Editor’s Note
Employee Engagement
E
mployee engagement in the organizations is a concept easily said and discussed than correctly understood and practiced. It is no more a secret that engaged employees are more productive; engender greater levels of loyalty and customer satisfaction which lead to organizational success. There have been a number of research studies across a wide range of industries and countries to identify the benefits of employee engagement in the organizations. The outcome of such studies indicate that organizations with higher level of employee engagement outperform their competitors in terms of performance and profitability, whereas companies with low levels of employee engagement witness fall in profits and operating margin. Hay, Gallup, Watson Wyattt and DDI, through their research studies all have reached to a conclusion that highly engaged employees in the organizations increase passion for and commitment to organization's goals, create a high energy working environment, bring higher employees retention, higher levels of creativity and innovations, greater sense of team, greater alignment with organization's values and sustained long term success. It is also suggested by current studies that employee engagement will be influenced by employee perceptions of job importance, his clarity of job expectations, career advancement opportunities, regular feed back with superiors, quality of working relationship with subordinates, superiors and peers and perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization. It would be wrong to equate employee satisfaction with the level of engagement. Employee satisfaction and loyalty does not necessarily mean that employee is really engaged. It is again found in a study by Gallup that no matter how long employees stay with the organization or how satisfied they are with their job, only an average of 29% are typically fully engaged and willing to give discretionary effort. Another 49% would be indifferent and remaining 22% would be actively disengaged. It is possible that employees are self motivated and dedicated to their job but sometimes they do not engage themselves with the organization. Engaging employees would be something more than merely keeping them satisfied and retained. Improving levels of employee engagement looks easy, but of course it isn't. Attempts to raise engagement levels are likely to flounder unless there is willingness at the top level. There is no magic wand that can be waved to bring about high levels of engagements. There has to be consistent efforts with practical tools and techniques to create high levels of engagement and the cover feature of this issue is intended to bring forth such techniques and tools of employee engagement. If you like it let us know. If not, well, let us know that too. Happy Reading!
Anil Kaushik
Readers’ Response
A Timely Initiative
Versatile
The cover feature 'Guru at Workplace' has appeared at a time when many organizations had started playing lip service to Mentoring or were not doing enough to reap the rewards, this relationship is capable of providing. While the essay by Dr. Daftuar provided the perfect foundation around which the ingenuity of other experts could be built, it is the perfect 'sequencing' of articles that ensured that the overall story comes out as a comprehensive effort. At personal level, I found the contemporary approach of Poonam Sharma the most useful for the module I was in process of preparing for the students of MBA (Executive Program). Thanks Team BM.
Experts’ views in the cover story are superb and versatile. Aparna Sharma has shared her exprience of mentoring. It is correct that people who exhibit generosity with their knowledge and time are often seen as authentic, dependable and respectful. Such persons take a personal interest in envisioning and encouraging to become their best selves. The crux of mentoring is the genuinness and caring. What Aparna has got from her mentors would certainly be delivering to others being mentor
Anil Gulati, Gurgaon
Compelling Indeed, a subject which is required to be placed at centre stage. My congratulations to you for compelling organisations to think about this HR initiative. I can say from my own experience that the main reason why mentoring does not deliver results, is the sense of insecurity and additional burden prevailing among senior people. They forget that someone in their career must have given his hand to hold and show the correct path in times of crisis. Most of us think that preparing a junior for bigger jobs and resonsibilities will not give us anything extra. The authors have well defined and concentrated on all aspects of mentoring. Unless emotion sprouting from inside oneself to help and guide a junior, mentoring will never be seen as serious as it should be. B.K. Kulkarni, Bangaluru
Assumes Importance With the ongoing turmoil, thanks to the Global Network of which we all are pat, in many of the work places and the continuous emphasis being on producing outstanding results mentoring assumes added importance. Most of the associates especially the younger ones need a holding hand to guide them through the troubled waters. As such the cover feature planned by your good selves was very timely indeed. Dr. A. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Hyderabad
L.N. Chawla, Noida
Workforce Planning
Deepti Pande’s article on Workforce Planning reinforces the importance of this aspect for HR professionals who some times do not pay much attention to this tool. As we plan other resources for business, employment planning is equally relevant and has scientific relevance. This is the tool which was in earlier days of personnel function known as man power planning. Ravi More, Ankleshwar
Workers Guardians
H.L. Kumar’s article on Trade Unions is insightful. It is a fact of the day that trade unions’ leaders have forgotten their real role of educating and training the workers to make them mature enough to understand the industry and business. No union can survive or add followers, who talks of workers’ rights only and not duties. Union leaders’ attitude have made workers irresponsible leading to trust deficit between management and employees. Zahid Khan, Udaipur
Thought Provoking Your editor's note captioned Guru- shishya equation, is worth reading. The way you putup your views in simple & lucid words is amazing and thought provoking. These few lines give in- depth insights of all the various articles covered in this issue. Congratulations!!! Gajendra Singh, Mumbai on facebook
Habit-difficult to leave I have been reading your magazine since started my career. It has become habit now seems difficult to leave. You have understood the correct requirements and expectations of HR people and delivering the same. That’s why BM stands on a different platform. The contents are very useful and helped me a lot in upgrading my knowledge. P.S. Pandit, New Delhi
Readers are invited to comment on articles published in BM through email at : bmalwar@yahoo.com, bmalwar@gmail.com 2
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Inside
May 2012 Vol. 14 No. 11 Chief Editor ANIL KAUSHIK Associate Editor Anjana Anil Hon'y Editorial Board Dr. T.V. Rao, Dr. Rajen Mehrotra, Dr. V.P. Singh, H. L. Kumar DELHI : F- 482,Vikaspuri, New Delhi-18 GHAZIABAD : A - 39, Lohia Nagar, Naya Ghaziabad (UP)
New Age
Employee Engagement By Kishor Bhave
Understanding Employee Engagement By Chinmay Kumar Podder
Hon'y Co-ordinators A.S. Sharma - Gurgaon assharma@jurishr.com
Pankaj Pradeep- Pune Pankaj.Pradeep@fiapl.com
Mihir Gosalia- Mumbai mihir@mihirgosalia.com
Indranil Banerjee- Kolkata
Employee Engagement
A key challenge for HR‌ By Dr. A Jagan Mohan Reddy
Identifying Actively Engaged Employees By Sarah Cook
Handling disengaged employees
indranil.hr@gmail.com
Done from heart and not as job task... Owned, Published and Printed by Anil Kaushik at Sun Prints, Ganpati Tower, Nangli Circle, Alwar - 301001 and Published From B138, Ambedkar Nagar, Alwar - 301001 ( Raj.) India Editor : Anil Kaushik The views expressed in the articles published in Business Manager are those of the authors only and not of the Publisher/Editor necessarily. ĂŁ Business Manager While every effort is made to have no mistake in the magazine, errors do occur. Publishers do not own any responsibility for the losses or damages caused to any one due to such ommissions or errors.
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What organisations do for engaging employees... What HR people think about... Various Reserarch Findings The Importance of Employee Engagement
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pg. 18-39 Business Manager
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Inside
Integrating Academia and Industry: Challenges Ahead The academia-industry connect here is yet to reach its peak as compared to the west. Seldom we care to appreciate the huge wastage of efforts this disconnect could make and we should not forget that by this connect we can save lot of efforts in the direction of a nation's economic wellbeing. Now is the best time to go for introspection into the entire gamut of the system as a prerequisite to start the process of improving the scenario through systematic academisation. An article by Dr. Nidhi Maheshwari
pg. 05
Surrogate HR
pg. 40
Decoding NEWness in the NOW NOW is the only creative space. Every human is blessed with potential and his talent hidden deep inside him can be brought out with the philosophy of NEWness in the NOW. By Chinmoy Sarkar
Conquering Procrastination It is essential to avoid procrastination habit, as far as possible, even in small matters. Otherwise it may result in a critical situation. Complete elimination of procrastination not only save time and health of employees but also energizing them to enhance the performance levels leading to professional growth. An articel by Dr. G.Ramesh & & K.VASUKI
pg. 10
Encapsulating TC & EC High technical competence interspersed with high emotional competence are what the HRD focus should be. It is a tall order. It needs a paradigm shift in the think tank. How to develop such skillset is a million dollar question but here is the rationale. An article by Aloke S Bhattacharya
pg. 15
Govt. Notifications
pg. 41
Helpline
pg. 44
Labour Problems & Solutions Questions by readers on variety of problems they face at work and answers by Anil Kaushik Chief Editor. Look at it. These may also be of some help to you.
Bid Farewell to Contract Labour System It is quite but natural that the contract labour while performing functions would have to act in terms of the directions of the officers of the company who would mark their attendance and allot work to them and also in respect of all matters incidental to their employment. However, such supervision and control is secondary control, the primary control resting with the contractor. An aticle by H.L. Kumar
pg. 57
Wage and Sewage: The plight of manual cleaners In many places of Chennai, it is a normal sight to see Metro water Supply and Sewage Board people in undergarments, jumping into the drainage to clear the water ways. With no protective mask or suit, they unwillingly but happily jump as if into the Ganges. An articel by S.Chandrasekar
pg. 60
Book Review Get Noticed Get Promoted Skills & Strategies By Ajay Wahi
and the award for BEST
SME of the year goes to...
By Ajay Wahi
pg. 62
Commentaries on Employees' State Insurance Act By V.K. Kharbanda & Vipul Kharbanda
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pg. 46
Judgments Latest from the Courts
Latest verdicts from different High Courts and Supreme Court effecting employer employee relations.
Event Report NHRDN Kolkata Conference
& HR News
Dr. Nidhi Maheshwari Assistant professor, Asia Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi
The academia-industry connect here is yet to reach its peak as compared to the west. Seldom we care to appreciate the huge wastage of efforts this disconnect could make and we should not forget that by this connect we can save lot of efforts in the direction of a nation's economic wellbeing. Now is the best time to go for introspection into the entire gamut of the system as a prerequisite to start the process of improving the scenario through systematic academisation.
Integrating Academia and Industry:
Challenges Ahead India
economic wellbeing. Now is the best time to go for introspection into the entire gamut of the system as a prerequisite to start the process of improving the scenario through systematic academisation.
Seldom we care to appreciate the huge wastage of efforts this disconnect could make and we should not forget that by this connect we can save lot of efforts in the direction of a nation's
Academic are believed to have been gifted with the vision and dreams of improved levels of consciousness. They can dream and innovate. Without this no society could really flourish. Academia inculcates a culture of improved thinking. They represent the think tank of nation. Industry is the achiever. But if the industry cannot follow the same culture of thinking to ensure the development process as a continuum, it is bound to remain limited within the four walls of technicalities alone and there would hardly be any
where many of the social institutions are well in placed with the economy with its vibrant demography has already started paying rich dividends. This has given accelerator to our growth rate and now India is going to be one of the giant economies with a growth rate only after People's Republic of China. But unfortunately enough, the academia-industry connect here is yet to reach its peak as compared to the west.
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Integrating Academia and Industry: Challenges Ahead
comprehensive development in our quality of living which remains the goal of any society for ever. If there is a strong culture of exchanges between the industry and the academics, one can be influenced by the other. If we want to bestow the best of the academics on industry too, industry should also come under, as one might call it, the process of 'academization'. 'Academization' does not necessarily mean a process stemming only from the side of the academia. Rather it's an impact created out of the healthy INTERFACE between academics and the industry. What is intended here is to refer to the fact that without academization nothing can really reach its meaningful perfection. In that sense, academia is also to earn to be academized by dint of its own
The knowledge needed for this sort of economic progression progresses through an interaction of analysis and synthesis. In the synthetic mode, we try to re-aggregate things to get the bigger picture .But we must not forget the importance of the balance between analysis and synthesis. If we are over emphasizing on synthesis that means we are accumulating less and less knowledge about more and more .It will be resulted in theories which is not tested on the platform of reality. On the other hand over analysis will provide the risk of knowing more and more about less and less .So avoidance in important matters and deep insight in trivial are equally undesirable. (Fix Priority). Industry people who do the analysis of the knowledge by
Due to the existing weak linkages most of the time the industry often seeks help from the developed nations for technological support and industries pay royalties to foreigners. On the other hand academic research with non-concurrence of the industrial inputs remains in the thesis, which is repetitive and rather unimaginative.These poor linkages attribute to create huge imbalance and efforts, money and intellectual capital loss. effort. It's a two-way traffic and targeted for a transcendental society. 'Academisation' of business and industry could be the answer to many questions raised as to optimizing the benefits we have so far not been able to leverage from this sort of association.
Academisation: The need of the hour The dependability of our economic base is changing from low technology base to hightechnology base. This transformation culminates to integrate the multifaceted aspects fundamental to high-technology growth. For this growth the key driver is knowledge and this economy demands innovation for wealth creation. Academia being the important generator of knowledge the economic transformation demands that industry engine should be fueled by the academic horse power for happier and sustainable growth. In case of India what we experienced might be referred to a good example. In many disciplines we find that the academicians have very little exchanges with their industrial counterpart and vise a versa. To be more precise in management education there are umpteen numbers of schools which appear totally cut off from industry? On the other hand industries also don't care much to keep the process of continued education of their executives to keep pace with time and change. Due to the existing weak linkages most of the time the industry often seeks help from the developed nations for technological support and industries pay royalties to foreigners. On the other hand academic research with nonconcurrence of the industrial inputs remains in the thesis, which is repetitive and rather unimaginative. These poor linkages attribute to create huge imbalance and efforts, money and intellectual capital loss which ultimately hamper our economic sustainability. 6
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checking it on the platform of market and the academician who syntheses the concepts to present a bigger picture should never forget that the knowledge driven economy demands a balanced approach. That is why for successful and sustainable economic growth both the industry and the academics must rethink and revolve their strategies to strengthen the linkages. Academisation is a process that takes a long time to change the tissues and the fabrics of social life for an improved quality of living by strengthening the academia industry linkages. To understand the relevance of academisation it is important to understand the academic delivery pattern of the Academic Institution. More or less, most of the Indian academic institutions use structured curriculum and assessment based learning pattern. In this paradigm, learners prove that they have learned effectively by responding to examination questions and projects with information gleaned from prescribed readings and classroom activities. But this type of indoctrination of learning might not give the requisite space for free ideation (Lamb Walk). Due to which the learners might not be able to see the unpredictability, the uncertainty, and the opportunities which may arise out of disorder. In new age of management when thinks are become more challenging due to a score of variables including technology upheavals, globalization, competitiveness ,cross cultural initiatives, conflicts of interests, geopolitical changes that necessitates a new genre of management thinking where "Puzzling" strategies are needed for learners. In this type of learning, learners work outside and beyond existing generalizations; they think forward, into creativity, rather than backwards to what has already been established. They learn by surprise, by exception, and by contradiction (Vygotsky, 1978).
Integrating Academia and Industry: Challenges Ahead
Acceptance of "Puzzling" strategies by the academician is again a challenge for academia as they are accustomed to structured constructions. Academia is used to and strong believer of structured curriculum based delivery but the present changes marked by the advent of a globalization have thrust us to nurture chaos where rules are diluted to encourage ideas based on free thinking, where turn analysis is more important than trend analysis. As Tidd (2005, p78) stated: 'If our mental models are limited, then our approach to managing is also likely to be limited.' Our academics by and large do not believe in incremental institutional growth. Our higher studies curriculum is designed with limited fixed set of combination of electives and at our research front very few researchers do research and get Ph.D. while others will rest on those glories and the incremental growth will be negligible. Few sporadic efforts have been taken for nurturing the out of box thinking attitude in the form of technological business incubators in IITs and IIMs but in comparison to developed nation our efforts are not commendable in this direction. The words of Arun Bharat Ram, past president CII, chairman CII Education Council and chairman SRF Ltd. Are worth quoting here that "Our institutes must be agile and be able to adapt to the changing environment, update curriculum, be in the forefront of research and knowledge creation and ensure the students are job ready,"
Steps towards Academisation: Academia and industry have strong different culture, priorities and value system which are the bottlenecks for strengthening the relationship. Academia always emphasizes on the role of information giver while industry emphasizes on issue resolving attitude. (Brinberg&Hirschman, 1986; Cornelissen, 2000). In this direction we have to take concrete steps rather than the sporadic attempts to strengthen the academic -industry partnership. The important consideration that contributes to the success of any partnership is the fact that attention has been paid to both the entities are equally relevant for uninterrupted exploration, creation and dissemination of knowledge. Hence, important task is to evolve strategies which can focus on long term relationships rather than working for restricted mutual benefits.
Resolving the Issue It is to understand that both industry and academia are profit driven. However the nature of profit differs. Industry seeks monetary profit from academia whereas academia looks for knowledge profit from industry. Notably, Industry and Academia cannot be taken as two individuals. They are the sectors containing innumerable companies and colleges respectively. Hence we need to take care of the competition among them while segregating profits. 1. Joint Steps to be Taken (Point of view: India's economy as a whole)
1.1. 'Elimination of the cultural barriers between Industry and academia': The objective differences of industry and academics have widened the cultural gap between academia and industry. For the proponents of technology transfer, the cultural differences represent obstacles that must be eliminated. DesmondHellmann, who served as president of product development at Genentech before becoming chancellor of UCSF in August 2009 said, when an important discovery is made at a university, "Scientists want to continue asking and answering questions." In contrast, "Industry wants to finish answering questions and sell it". It is a general belief that academia is meant for open-endedness means a necessary space for free thinking which is needed for new thoughts to take form. To cherish and to give a form to the new thoughts, passage of time is an important requirement which cannot be denied at any point of time. On the other hand industry cherishes on the principles of "execution" and "getting things done". The difference of belief is clearly apparent through the attitude of the academicians and the industry people. Even it is well established that distinct norms, customs and institutions govern academic science on the one hand, and industrial science on the other (Dasgupta and David, 1994). For example According to Merton (1973) scientists working for universities are supposed to be guided by the ethos of the unconditional sharing of knowledge whereas scientists working for companies are expected to be secretive in order to protect the economic gains of research results (Rosenberg, 1990; Dasgupta and David, 1994).The objective of academic science is to generate new, fundamental, universal knowledge that is not necessarily immediately practical or profitable (Merton, 1973). In contrast, industrial science focuses on short-term projects which when applied in practice, eventually generate financial rewards (Heller and Eisenberg, 1998; Rhoten and Powell, 2007). Traditions and priorities differ in academic circles and industry, so perception change is the first thing to work on. Joint training programs and courses from entrepreneurship to research management, even faculty and industry people exchange for upgrading the knowledge of both the forums are needed for enhancing the cultural exchange of industry and academia. There are instances when specialized skills may be lacking in one of the sector but available in the other sector .Such gap can be filled by recruiting experienced employee from the other sector. This will help the industry and academia to understand the culture of each other as well as the exchange will infuse expertise and experience in the industry for competitiveness and better employability for researchers. Even for the researchers who are working in the industry should be legally endorsed for professorship in academia (sabbatical). To facilitate this opportunity and acceptance by the researchers the encouragement is also needed by the academia. Researcher's mobility should be appraised by the performance indicators as Business Manager
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Integrating Academia and Industry: Challenges Ahead
The most competitive companies of the world value and promote innovation by giving room to their own employees for research and development which in turn benefits in their functionality.
research contribution and marks should be allocated for appraisals in both the sectors. 1.2. Facilitating the intellectual property management: On the platform of intellectual property and the management of proprietary technologies and knowledge both academic and Industry fraternity have different objectives. The urge of industry is for profit maximization and to strengthen the long term positioning of the business. Generally they have well established mechanisms for the enforcement of their patent activities. On the other hand academic world is driven by the expectation to get the recognition for their knowledge and serve the mankind. But initially this fraternity was not very serious about their intellectual property management and industry has en-cashed this. Industry started investing strategically and sometimes dictated academia on the confidentiality and intellectual property management obsessed by the thoughts that they are the sponsors of the research. For the sustainable industry academia collaboration both the partners must recognize and should give the credit to the contribution which they bring to the alliance. Sometimes in the eagerness for the collaboration they fail to communicate on the intellectual property management issues which create the problems at the end. That is why it is suggested that industry academia partnership should be treated as an investment portfolio. It will serve as a strong foundation for secure collaboration where both the fraternity can share knowledge and other resources freely .For such tie-ups professional expertise from legal counselors, researchers and top level management of the Industry. The established intellectual property management system by IIT -Mumbai is a wonderful step taken in this direction. This cell has helped the university to manage their IP revenue and managing the sustainable collaboration with the industry. Another issue is of research confidentiality which could be a constraint for collaboration at times. Academicians always want to publish their research as they perceive it as scientific knowledge progression while industry want to keep it confidential as they take it as proprietary and they want to safeguard the rights of the shareholders. That is why the collaboration should also categories the research information as information for commercialization, information which can be even sold to third party and the free information available. This categorization will serve the purpose of both the fraternity for strong bondage. 1.3. Building the relationships to grow together: To understand each other and for improving the overall communication, opportunities are needed where both the pillars can extend their understanding of technicalities of the concept, business and commercialization. This cross-fertilization of the ideas will be resulted in the creation of more and stronger
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industry-academic research projects. 1.4. Strengthening the tie ups for commercialization success: Creating knowledge through research, transmitting the knowledge through teaching and training people are the main focus of the academia of this knowledge economy but these efforts is not sufficient to popularize the academic research outcome for industrial application. Academia is always expected to make direct or indirect contribution to economic performance .These are fundamental and crucial features of any developed economy. That is why academia has collaborated with industry as an integral part for fulfilling their knowledge requirements. Once the research is matured in the academic lab for commercialization complicated interactions between research providers and the Industries wishing to exploit the research is obvious. This process involves taking academic results as input and then processes it through channels like experimental developments, production and marketing to give it a final form for mass production. Moreover for enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness sometimes incremental changes in products, materials and processes is also involved in commercialization process. Commercial outcome from academic research is complex, costly and heterogeneous process. Even we can say for every single penny spend for successful research outcome ten times or even more than that is further needed for successful commercialization as every academic research result is not always a nice neat invention ready for licensing or for market adoption. Due to the further investment requirement of time, cost and intellect in academic research, unfortunately industries are not very interested in commercialization of the academics research rather they go for the ideas which are already sold successfully in some other market in another part of the world. Another constraint in front of industry is that tax benefit is always available on the sponsorship of the scientific research but Indian taxation system does not encourage investment in the commercialization of new technologies. Industry always prefers to invest in the projects those had established there marketability and had given their proof of concept. This in turn has led to a shortage of equity funding for the commercialization funding for academic research and early stage venture capital. It results in number of academic research is waiting in academic labs for commercialization. In such cases academia can take up the initiative foracademic spin-off company to develop the product, and demonstrate its market, to take some of the early-stage risk out. Once the product is fully taken up by the market, industries will become very much interested, and will come for further collaboration. Most of the time academic researchers are not having the flair towards entrepreneurial
Integrating Academia and Industry: Challenges Ahead
activities that is why they generally don't go for commercialization of their academic research rather they are more interested in early stage patents. These early stage patents give them the freedom from the later stage of work which remains to be done to determine the true applicability of the findings and to implement these in commercial products. Academia also en-cashes the benefits from the secured patents in the form patent transfer fee from the industry. This patent transfer fee charged by the academia from the industry makes the venture more costly for the industry to take up. That is why it is suggested that the Cooperative Research Centers should be established where industry and academia will collaborate at the very early stage of research and will help each other to understand each other's responsibilities and expectations. This early stage trusted and shared perception will be leveraged by industry and academia and the research outcome will be provided at much competitive cost for the benefits of masses. 1.5. Integrate technology: When Henry Chesbrough coined the term "open innovation," he meant that knowledge is widely distributed in the modern world, and that industries should not just rely on internal sources of innovation; they should also use external ideas.1 Further shorter product life in market ,pricing pressures, late stage research failures, regulatory hurdles are few impediments which ignites the need of industry to collaborate with cost effective sources like academics for research and development activities. To implement this philosophy we need organizational structures which can convert the ideas of academia for the industrial requirements. This need could be met through the technology translators to help the industries to integrate a variety of technologies and ideas to address the market opportunity. The team of technology translators must have close linkages with the industry but just the industrial experience is not sufficient rather these people must have the potential to identify the current industrial requirement with respect to current economic climate. The technology translators must procure in - depth knowledge comprising of all facets of the technological requirement of the industry. For the procurement of successful solution to industrial problem the inputs are needed from diverse disciplines and for that technology translators must understand the
details of the industry requirements, should translate the problem in the language of research and must identify the relevant mechanism available with the academia, should act as a facilitator to ensure the successful collaborations between industry and academia for implementation of results. The above recommendations are sure to make India a global superpower but only if these are implemented. The question is - how often such ideal things happen? Are they really practical? As an academician we will agree but will we as an industrialist take risk to be a part of this idea? Or these are good only when it comes to give a noble speech on nationalism? Well! The answer is that the above points do matter and act as a motivator but only when the interests of individual companies are well taken care of. While thinking about this interest I accidentally came across a wonderful book on 'Competency Based HRM' written by Dr. Ganesh Shermon - Partner and country head of People and Change Practice at KPMG. I was wondering if such book would have been written by an employee of an Indian company. The difference lies here. The most competitive companies of the world value and promote innovation by giving room to their own employees for research and development which in turn benefits in their functionality. The point is that this book not only benefits KPMG but also provides practical insights to the students of management which are again recruited by KPMG. In this way KPMG needs not to train them on its behalf.
STEPS TO BE TAKEN 'Elimination of the cultural barriers between Industry and academia’ Facilitating the intellectual property management Building the relationships to grow together Strengthening the tie ups for commercializatio n success Integrate technology
Unfortunately, Indian companies are yet to understand the benefits of revealing the ways and procedures they follow. They still believe that if they do so, they will lose competitive advantage. Such short-sightedness cost them to compromise with the profits what they could have otherwise earned called as 'Opportunity Cost'. Today, they are totally dependent on cheap manpower and youth energy. Competition for Intelligence exists but not for innovation. Again the question is who will make the industry realize this? Ha! It is academicians who should do this. Cooperation, co-ordination and collaboration between academia and industry are hence necessary to face challenges of integrated future. BM
References: Brinberg, D. and Hirschman, E.C. (1986) 'Multiple Orientations for the Conduct of Marketing Research: An Analysis of the Academic/Practitioner Distinction', Journal of Marketing 50: 161-73. Cornelissen, J.P. and Lock, A.R. (2000) 'Theoretical Concept or Management Fashion: Examining the Significance of Integrated Marketing Communications', Journal of Advertising Research 40(5): 7-15. Dasgupta, Partha, and Paul David, Toward a new economics of science, Research Policy, 23(3):487-521, 1994. Heller, M.A., R.S. Eisenberg. 1998. Can patents deter innovation? The anticommons in biomedical research. Science 280 698-701. Merton, R. K. 1973. The sociology of science: Theoretical and empirical investigations. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Rhoten, D., W. W. Powell. 2007. The frontiers of intellectual property: Expanded protection vs. new models of open science. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 3345-373 Rosenberg, N. 1990. Why do companies do basic research (with their own money)? Research Policy19(2) 165-174.. Tidd, J., Bessant, J. and Pavitt, K. (2005) Managing Innovation:Integrating technological, market and organizational change, Third edition, Wiley. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Business Manager
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Dr. G.Ramesh Assistant Professor of Commerce Sir Theagaraya College, Chennai
K.VASUKI Assistant Professor of Commerce Sir Theagaraya College, Chennai
Conquering Procrastination
It is essential to avoid procrastination habit, as far as possible, even in small matters. Otherwise it may result in a critical situation. Complete elimination of procrastination not only save time and health of employees but also energizing them to enhance the performance levels leading to professional growth.
Human
resources are one of the most important assets and success of an organization depends heavily on good work force. There is no apparent limit to what people can accomplish when they use their full potentials. However it is not uncommon to find out that after initial excitement many employees tend to lose interest in the job and their performance levels come down considerably. In fact, the biggest challenge in most of the contemporary organizations is getting good employees on board and retaining their talent for some time. In the present cut - throat, stress producing work environment, a number of factors cause frustration to executives at work place. Professionals across the enterprises feel stress and other mental health issues percolating into physical and psychological problems. An 10
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individual is more responsible for his career development, more importantly for maintaining good health, than the responsibility of the organization in this context. An executive has to learn many things and develop a lot in their respective profession; but the time available at his/her disposal is limited. Unlike other resources, time once lost can never be regained. With the result one's work suffers in proportion to time lost. Considerable portion of time of an executive is wasted through procrastination - a practice of putting today's work on tomorrow. It is essential to avoid procrastination habit, as far as possible, even in small matters. Otherwise it may result in a critical situation. Complete elimination of procrastination not only save time and health of employees but also energizing them to enhance the performance levels leading to professional growth.
Conquering Procrastination
Conquering Procrastination Meaning of procrastination The term procrastination is originated from the Latin word "Procrastinare" which means defer till the morning. Procrastination is the act of delaying a task or postponing an action to a later time. "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday and avoiding today" said Dr. Wayne Dyer. (Aarti Santosh, "Avoid Procrastination, Reap Career Success", Chennai, Opportunities, The Hindu, December 1, 2010). It is a behavior of replacing high priority tasks with actions of low priority - an attitude of holding up an important work that was originally planned to be completed earlier. People procrastinate when they focus on a 'less important - more enjoyable and comfortable work than a 'key task' which is unpleasant or boring. Such people neglect the priority bases - either intentionally or habitually. The act of procrastinating due to inactivity and slackness results in something being put off to the possible last minute, until people are cornered to do them or; sometimes never doing them at all. Here, there is a temporal gap between intended behavior and enacted behavior. In a work place, procrastinating over tasks occur when there is a long gap between planning a job and its performance. Steel (2007) defined procrastination as the "voluntary delay of an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay". If an employee continually fails to delivery things on time, he/she will end up with a label of an 'employee with behavioral problem' such a labeling could be detrimental to otherwise bright employee, in finding career success. However, most talented individuals suffer through this action without realizing it well. Procrastination is inevitable phenomenon and all the individuals procrastinate sometimes or other. Everyone gives into the urge to put off doing things once in a while. Even the most successful professionals and talented executives procrastinate; but they do it less often and they do not practice it on important tasks.
Styles of procrastination Here are some ways of delaying the performance. Ignoring the tasks till the end. Forgetting the deadlines habitually Substituting less priority job for the work that is really important. Delaying things intentionally with rebellion attitude. Focussing too much on particular part of the total work, stuck on it and leaving rest. Spending too much time and energy on the
first stage or initial stages of a project. Estimating the tasks poorly and the inability to complete them in time. Misunderstanding and Minimising the impact of performance for the career success. Distracting to unproductive activities Taking excessive, long breaks between tasks. Blaming surrounding environment, listing pre requisites for starting up the toss and making excuses. There are several ways how employees can procrastinate. If they identify and understand better how they procrastinate the tasks, they can catch themselves doing it. Too often many individuals do not even realize that they procrastinate. Based on above behavior patterns, procrastinators can be classified into the following three categories; Avoiders - who avoid the tasks for some reasons - fear of failure, danger, and task aversion. Thrill seekers - who wait till last minute for sudden excitement. Decisional Procrastinators - who can not make a decision or fears to take decision on anything.
Causes of procrastination Procrastination is a symptom of some deep personality traits and physical imbalance. There is more than one reason why executives procrastinate. Once they understand the root cause for this temporisation, it is easy for them to overcome it. Here are the major causes of procrastination:
Psychological Factors Complicated task anxiety Task aversion Lack of clear goals/focus Lack of self - confidence/ambition Guilt and self sabotage mentality Neurosis Impulsiveness Fear of failure Fear of success and separation Fear of becoming mean and cold to others Fear of losing autonomy Traits like Anger, Rebellion Fatigue and depression Addiction to last minute
Physiological Factors Damage or low activation or cortex (the outer, folded layer of brain) Attention - deficit hyper - activity disorder. Lack of energy tiredness, Laziness and
Break the big jobs /total projects into smaller, manageable. Turn things around and prioritise things. Set deadlines and stick to them in the most possible manner. Evaluate the performances regularly and identify the strengths. Procrastination is not essentially a problem of time management. Procrastinators should not assume that they only procrastinate. Outsource the parts of full job whenever required. Recognise procrastination behavior. Motivate internally to break procrastination habit. Identify the consequences of 'under performance'. Develop a positive attitude towards the tasks. Avoid over thinking, excessive research. Learn meditation to keep focused attention. Challenge the myths on procrastination. Accept that perfection is a rarely attainable phenomenon.
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under activation. Reduced ability to filter out distracting stimuli.
Perfectionism Procrastination and perfectionism often go hand in hand. Fear of imperfection is a key cause for procrastination habit. In many cases, surprisingly, perfectionists are procrastinators. They tend to defer things by expecting so much of themselves and doubt whether they can meet those high standards or not. Such people think that they should get perfect things around them to start and do the work. Most perfectionists feel and fear that necessary resources, right skills and required knowledge for the job are not available. They tend to defer the actions till the end or don't act at all. Some other perfection loving professionals think that 'giving half hearted efforts and maintaining the belief that they could have done a better job' is comfortable than 'giving maximum efforts and achieving mediocre results'. This mindset helps the perfectionists to support their stand 'If they had tried harder, they could have excelled'.
Unpleasant Job Why people procrastinate may also depend upon the given task. One of the major reasons for hesitation towards the work is 'unpleasant ingredients or boring aspects' of a job. Even executives with supreme talent, procrastinate in their respective duties and avoid uncomfortable moment because they don't like their jobs.
Time consuming projects Projects which require long gestation period and consume more time for completion could invite procrastination. People tend to put those types of projects under the back burner and avoid even starting them.
Disorganized behavior Inability to fend off the temptation to procrastinate Lack of understanding on the importance of task Lack of enjoyment Doubting the self judgment and skills Lack of knowledge to break down the whole 12
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task into manageable sub tasks - clueless on when and how to start. Absence of prioritized to-do-list and priority confusion Indecisive behavior and poor decision making skills causing inability to decide which decision is best in a given situation. Poor organizational skills
Poor time management Distorted sense of time or more optimistic about the time. Over estimation of the available time leading to delude work.
Feeling of Overwhelming by the task Seek comfort of doing the job at a later period Unrealistic assumption that big task can be finished with present capabilities in time.
External Factors Messy environment Non availability of supportive staff helplessness Poor infrastructural facilities
and
There are a large number of factors causing procrastination among executives - both the habit of individuals and the nature of task assigned to them. The psychological factors like fear, anxiety and other personal traits appearing in conscious and sub conscious mind paralyze the work. Such factors keep people out of taking action or give up the entire task. However few executives may be procrastinating even if they are confident of their abilities, energetic or enjoy achieving targets. Lay in his research article "At Last My Research on Procrastination" published in the Journal of Research on Personality has divulged that 'procrastinatory behaviour is independent of need for achievement, energy or self esteem'. Even few organised professionals defer some of the unimportant tasks for a short period believing it is not necessarily procrastination but prioritization. They have genuine reasons for rescheduling the key tasks and this habit occasionally emerge from them.
Conquering Procrastination
Consequences of Procrastination Procrastination is a deeply ingrained behavior. For many individuals, this habit is a life style. It is normal for employees to procrastinate to some extent and want to start the key tasks fresh. So long as this habit is not impeding the normal functioning, it is not a major problem. If the tendency gets chronic, it may become a complicated issue with bigger costs. Procrastination has so many downsides and has the potential for painful consequences. Chronic procrastinators are actively looking for distractions and often shift their responsibilities on to others who become resentful. They are telling lies frequently and their relationships with family members, friends and colleagues are severely jeopardized. They lose respect and support of others. In few cases, such procrastinators end up with divorce, avoidable enmity and jobless. They find it hard to seek help from others due to their stigmatic beliefs. This behavior destroys the team work culture and work place relationships - leading to task aversion. The more the executives procrastinate more will be the task looking unpleasant. If procrastinators' behavior comes to limelight, superiors may brand them lazy. They lose the opportunities to prove their abilities and consequently promotion chances and other benefits are affected. There are also big internal, personal costs to Procrastination. It can change eating time and patterns which will have detrimental effects on the general health of individuals. This habit affects immune system and leads to more Gastrointestinal problems. Procrastinators get exhausted more quickly than their imagination and lose abilities to self control their behavior. They may be affected by sleeplessness, insomnia and other severe health disorders. If procrastinators are alcoholics, they consume more and more alcohol. Such individuals lack the will power and energy to self regulate the life style. Procrastination is unhealthy because it: results in substance abuse and disengagement. robs peace of mind creates a sense of guilt and crisis develops pressure feeling due to accumulation of tasks clutters - unfinished jobs tend to clutter the work space rumbles around the back of people consciousness causes stress and worry leads to inefficiency affects personal productivity.
Conquering procrastination Since procrastinators are made and not born it is very much possible to overcome their habit. The keys are willingness to transform within and determination for more productive life. Everyone procrastinate sometimes but only very few are true, chronic procrastinators. For these individuals procrastination may be persistent and
tremendously disruptive to day -to-day life. When this habit raises its villainous face often, it is time to attempt one or few approaches to beat it head on. "It takes deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow" quoted Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914 - 1994). Procrastinators can change the attitude with sincere efforts. It requires dedication patience and psychic energy on their past. It consumes few resources and support from others. Employees use various techniques to break procrastination in jobs. Because of difference in the abilities of individuals some measures work better for few than for others. Here are some suggestions for the procrastinating executives:
Physical Break the big jobs /total projects into smaller, manageable and concrete sub tasks. Plan and work on these specific parts - complete a little bit each time or every day. Seeing the success of earlier portion of work will help reinforce productive behavior to feel motivated for later parts of the job. Turn things around and prioritise things. Priority confusion is a complex aspect. List out the jobs after considering obligations and options. If possible keep the hardest/unpleasant items of the work first in the list. The rest of the items will become down hill and more enjoyable. The task may not be as bad as imagined. Alternatively if employees think they would rather do easiest parts of the work first, that's also fine. Individuals may select whatever way works for them. Getting into one small change in the process can create momentum for few employees. Set deadlines and stick to them in the most possible manner. Quite often a task without any deadline is put off indefinitely. Setting up time limits and checking with deadlines frequently may create some accountability. When there is no deadline, investigate and work on improving working styles. If possible hone the skills. Evaluate the performances regularly and identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with those performances. This will help the executives can play to their strengths and gradually set right the weaknesses. If professionals perceive procrastination as their strength for success, they are not going to give it up right away. Procrastination is not essentially a problem of time management or of planning. Procrastinators are not different in their abilities to forecast the time left for each jobs They are heroic and more optimistic than others. They feel the work can be finished in short duration. They must be realistic about how long it will actually take to complete the work. They should learn to handle the time properly by apportioning it between timed Business Manager
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Conquering Procrastination
commitments and relaxation activities. "Procrastination is the thief of time" said Edward young (1683 - 1765) the famous English Poet. There are only 24 hours a day. Time does not change. Executives must actually manage themselves and decide what they wisely do with 'available time'. Time management skills are especially important to stay organized and increase productivity. Professionals can have a 'to do list' and follow it. They should avoid multi - tasking and concentrate on one specific task at a time. This will help them complete job in time. Procrastinators should not assume that they only procrastinate, struggle to produce things in time and want to improve. Most employers procrastinate. Hence seek out opportunities to interact with colleagues who are successful in beating procrastination behavior and in performing the tasks in time. The interactions, discussions and constant support from close knit have a big role to play infighting with procrastination head on. There are so many people who are willing to listen and ready to step in, if their help is sought and get them on boards. Observe how they are handling their assignments and dealing with delay or priority issues. If possible form a work group and get help from other members of such group. This will help in putting things in proper perspective and in guiding to get back on track if and when procrastination emerges again. Outsource the parts of full job whenever required and wherever possible. This will reduce the pressures of procrastination and protect from major health issues associated with this behavior.
Psychological Recognise procrastination behavior at the inception itself and be aware of it. Awareness is the key because many individuals don't understand that they are putting off things. They should be honest in recognizing and realizing the reality. They should conduct self tests whenever and wherever required. Motivate internally to break procrastination habit. Keep in mind that this attitude delays the projects and affects, others in the organization. 'Reduce' uncertainty on 'how to proceed' and distractions undermining the efforts. Identify the consequences of 'under performance' or 'delayed actions'. Realise that these attitudes can damage career success. Develop a positive attitude towards the tasks, get courage to do them and remember the rewards of timely completion. Avoid over thinking, excessive research and too much to start and perform every job. Planning is
one part, performance is another. Psychologists cite procrastination as a mechanism for coping with the anxiety with starting any task. Learn meditation to keep focused attention. Strengthen the willpower with regular self affirmation. Change the 'hold up' style with 'now only' and 'at this very moment' styles of functioning. Challenge the myths on procrastination. Perhaps, Stephen. R. Covery said it best "the way we see problem is the problem". (Aarti Santosh, "Mentoring Makes the Unlearning Process Smooth", Chennai, Opportunities, The Hindu, December 14, 2011). The key is to have an open mind and recognize the need to beat procrastination. Accept that perfection is a rarely attainable phenomenon. Perfectionism is seldom necessary for all endeavours. Everything around the work place does not have to be perfect. There is no such thing as 100% perfect; it may be 90/10 or 80/20. 'Understand' the short comings human efforts which can neither match machine power nor perform like robot. Realise that imperfect job completed today is always better than the perfect job delayed indefinitely.
Conclusion The ability to overcome procrastination and 'to do things in time' is the most important skills to master for having good health and achieving success in both personal life and profession. Procrastination is a one of the greatest threats which can take a huge toll in the life of people practicing it. There are many ways to avoid success in the career, but the most sure-fire might be procrastination. There is no clear, single and complete explanation for this attitude; but procrastinators should always keep in mind that 'Procrastination will conquer our life if we don't learn to conquer procrastination'. Procrastinators developed their behavior over a long period of time. They should not expect any magical transformation and can not try to break the attitude overnight. If the employees really determined to succeed, they must explore different strategies and attempt as many approaches as possible to end procrastination. Realistically, no single guideline can work for all for ever. When tested and tried strategies fail, it is always better trying to change the habit bit by bit and step by step. Some of the cures suggested above are challenging to implement in the real work environment; but they are effective. Once people take few steps to deal with procrastination, they may find the rest of the life productive by accomplishing the tasks that seemed unattainable. Procrastinators must understand the fact that the persons they are today are the direct result of decisions they have made and the actions they have taken. They are the architects of their own life- only they have the power to change the course of their future. BM
References: Prasad. L.M, Human Resource Management, Sultan Chand & Sons, New Delhi, 2005 Aarti Santosh, "Avoid Procrastination, Reap Career Success", Chennai, Opportunities, The Hindu, December 1, 2010 Websites: John Place, " Causes and Cures for Procrastination" Johnplace online, May25,2007 http://wikipedia.org/wiki/procrastination http://www.mindtools.com http://psychology today.com http://www.asianefficiency.com 14
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Aloke S Bhattacharya Mumbai
Encapsulating
High technical competence interspersed with high emotional competence are what the HRD focus should be. It is a tall order. It needs a paradigm shift in the think tank. How to develop such skillset is a million dollar question but here is the rationale.
TC & EC (Technical & Emotional Competence)
Many
captions glamourized Emotional Intelligence (EI) in HR articles e.g.
competencies required for excellence in performance in the job studies, 67% were emotional competencies."
"IQ is just for recruitment while EQ alone is for promotion for top rung"
He only meant contrary to popular belief, IQ cannot alone deliver performance.
"We hire on hard skills but fire for soft skills"?
They related EQ directly to star performance as if it is a new-found cure-all replacement of all other skillsets. Conceptually, no two opinions exist on their merit in human performance enhancements. But it failed to deliver.
Equally important question; what did we mean by IQ -is it the conventional intelligence quotient or everything other than EI knowledge? Is IQ another word for technical skills? Does it include or exclude analytical, conceptual and other managerial skills like planning? Without such clarity, branding IQ as just for entry level qualification did no good to initiatives for EC development. But the sweeping generalization would have confused technical professionals.
The Implementation Issues
The Conceptual Gaps
Daniel Goleman had defined emotional competence as a "learned ability based on EI that results in outstanding performance at work". Now twenty-two years later, do we know how to train and certify such ability to produce high performers? Did we build a system to enable one to develop first EI, and then learn the ability called EC? Good programmes do exist for creating enough self-awareness, but is that all for EC, let alone outstanding performance? And is this awareness not some form of knowledge rather than intelligence?
Between EQ and IQ, which one enables the performer to achieve performance goals and which ones help him to avoid failure or nonperformance? The first is about goal management and the second is about risk management. The "goal management" school is characterized by five task questions like what is the right thing to do, how to do, how to check and improve. Are these not learnt in technical skills development? Are they not vital for star performance up to top level?
"Emotional Competence (EC) rather than IQ is the major determinant of success." "It is four times more important than IQ in determining professional success."
No wonder, viewed against the promise of outstanding performance, EI was a non-starter. Also did Goleman ever say EQ alone delivered star performance? Not in below: "In a study of skills that distinguish star performers in every field from entry level jobs to executive positions, the single most important factor was not IQ, advanced degrees, or technical experience, it was EQ. Of the
Now about EQ. Most literature on EQ spoke only in risk management or negative termsthat is consequences of lack of EI . (The "risk management" basically concerns issues that could affect our ability to do right things right.) It is silent on how someone very strong in EI can excel or be a star performer to achieve goals. As a result, it becomes difficult to imagine a system to train people for excellent performance through emotional competence. Business Manager
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Encapsulating TC & EC
What Then? Having said all above in criticism of EQ practices, let me now attempt to put EC in the perspective. That is, for deriving excellence in performance, continuously learn job skills and blend it with soft skills of EC. Dale Carnegie had said: "People who rise to the top of their field, whether it is psychology, law, medicine, engineering or banking are not just good at their jobs. They are affable, resilient, and optimistic."
Understanding EC and TC For starters, a brief analogy may help conceptualize the roles of EC and TC. Imagine a water supply tank at your building rooftop. It has pipes and taps running right up to your washbasin and water cooler. It works. Just reach out to the tap, open it and out comes clean, cool smoothly flowing water, whenever, wherever you want. Now consider your office and your people.
Allow a few minutes of silence to your mind every day, and see, how sharply it helps you to set your life the way you expect it to be...!
Encapsulate TC and EC Technology includes knowledge, equipment and methods to accomplish tasks. Technology keeps changing, as do environment and people. The cascaded change brings in intense interactions among the people. More sentiments are aroused. A new set of values, norms, ideas, and frame of reference surfaces-a change takes place internally in the organization. An emotionally competent person would have self motivation and social skills to initiate proven and state-of-the-art technical interventions to make work programs work. He will innovate, provide direct know how for problem solving. His profound knowledge would create large fan following in the youngsters waiting in the wings.
Like the water in the tank, your mind too is full with technical knowledge-up to date data, rigorous what-if analyses, optimizing studies and a new plan like automating a manual function, relocating and merging two work groups, reskilling them for career upgrades etc. Imagine that you need to deliver today, like the water out the tap, the new plan to your target people. They should accept the new tasks and collaborate with you in your pursuit. Will your communication flow just like the clear water out the tap? Or, will it get drowned in all kinds of whining, cribbing, excuses on why they cannot do it, despite all rational forces that say do it. No prizes for guessing.
Ensure they are technically competent:
Your high value technical work and reputation for high technical competence would soon appear to be on a chopping block. What went wrong? Technically perfect, but you did not take their usual emotions as seriously as your all-important analysis. You did not consider that emotions often drove our behaviour. Feel was faster than thought.
At the same time they must be emotionally competent:
You needed to be emotionally competent to stay calm and stay focused against all provocations. That would have enabled you to use your high technical competence to achieve your goals. And then you would slowly develop the core competence defined as a specific set of capabilities including knowledge, skills, behaviors and technology that generate performance differentials. Not by TC, by EC neither but by a combination of TC and EC. However, EC needs something special.
Spiritual Base is a must EC helps us to focus, stay calm. True silence brings answers to so many unanswered questions in life. To understand this intellectually is one thing. But to take it to conscious awareness for true emotional competence needs self-development of spiritual base. Without that, it would be an unending misalignment between what one says, and what he feels and does e.g. Vipassana says : 16
A peaceful mind can think better than a worked up mind.
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They are intelligent and so work cleverly, creatively and efficiently. They are curious i.e. eager to understand, to know and to learn. They have knowledge, because they find the more they know, the more they know they do not know. They never sit on the laurels of their academic brilliance. They learn continuously. They are decisive as they can make choices based on a combination of analysis, critical thinking and judgment even under deadline pressures. They show perseverance: the passion, focus and energy to get results.
They are confident. They have capacity to believe in self and in own choices. They are decision maker. Their decisions are based on a blend of thinking and feeling. They are flexible; so respond positively to change. They are respectful; treat others in a considerate, gracious and thoughtful manner. They show empathy: caring and understanding of others situation, feelings and motives. And above all, they are self-aware and recognize, understand, and manage own moods, emotions, and drives, as well as understand their effect on others.
The Bottom Line: High technical competence interspersed with high emotional competence are what the HRD focus should be. It is a tall order. It needs a paradigm shift in the think tank. How to develop such skillset is a million dollar question but here is the rationale: "A good head and a good heart are a formidable combination." - Nelson Mandela BM
New Age
Employee Engagement Engaging employees in the organisations is a concept easily said and discussed than correctly understood and practiced. What is engagement of employees at workplace in real sense? Are organizing fun and get-to-gether are sufficient to keep employees engaged? Are satisfied employees equal to engaged employees? How to identify actively engaged employees? B.M. attempts to answer all these questions and surrounding issues in the cover feature through opening articles by HR Veterans Kishor Bhave, Chinmay kumar Podder, Sarah Cook & Dr. A. Jagan Mohan Reddy alongwith Views of HR Professionals.
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Factors for achieving employee engagement 1. Meaningful Work 2. Collaboration 3. Fairness 4. Autonomy 5. Recognition 6. Growth 7. Connectedness with the leader 8. Connectedness with colleagues
Kishor Bhave
Pune
One
reads a lot of employee engagement these days and hears about it in seminars and conferences. It is nothing but different methods to implement the same concept that existed since ages. I have no issues with newer methods to revitalize old concepts since with changes all around us new approaches have to be evolved and established for desired results! What was once, not too long ago known as "a sense of belonging" or "a psychological ownership of the task" or "a commitment to the objectives" has remained constant in present times with new name "Employee Engagement". It is foundational to organizational well being that the employees contribute their best to the organizational effort to achieve objectives. New realities, new technologies, newer ways of doing things are all fine but the fact remains that if employees do not give what the task demands, the organizational performance will be lackluster! Business Manager
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At Federal Mogul Automotive Products, Bhiwadi
Done from heart and not as job task...
To gain an edge on business depends upon the workforce involved in running the same and specially the motivated work force who actually creates the difference. There may be lot of ways for motivation but what I believe is that employee engagement is something which can play significant role in this direction. At Federal Mogul Bhiwadi we did the same thing and the result is in front of us. The source of measuring:our employee turnover drastically came down in 2011 from 14% to 6%. We started very small engagement activities like-welcoming a new employee by giving him a piece of Chocolate mentioning a sweet and healthy association with the company. It gives a very positive message in the mind of a new comer who joins you with lot of expectations. I believe this can be stepping stone in building a culture from day one and ensure a smooth transition in engaging an employee in a new set up. We also started to arrange a “Thanks Session� among all employees on the occasion of any achievement. In this session we thank each and every employee for their contribution and ask them to pass the same to their family members also. FM Magazine is also one of the platforms where every employee shares his ideas and articles shared globally. Apart from these activities, we carry out Birthday celebration, Kaizen ceremony, safety week, World health day, blood donation camp, Quality month and Mass tree Plantation, Skill championship, Vishvakarma Pooja, sports competition, Festival celebration, Foundation day and Annual day with all employees and their family members.Celebration of Annual day is one of the effective events we organise on annual basis in which lot of activities related to sports and music are conducted. In this function we recognise the efforts of those employees who do exceptionally well in their field in the form of award and reward like Recognition, Long Service, Best attendance and Director awards. We released Employee calendar in 2011. In this Calendar we covered all the employee events with Photographs and distributed it to all employees for their family.This calendar is in itself created the sense of pride and belongingness among all employees including their family when they share about these activities to any one visits their house. This calendar got an appreciation from all corners.The difference is - All this has been done from heart and not as job task. -Dhirender Singh, Head-HR , Federal Mogul Automotive Products, Bhiwadi 20
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Survival, Success and Growth of any organization, including a family, NGO, Sports Team or a corporate, is determined by its UNITY, COMPETENCE and FLEXIBILITY and a few other strengths, in existence and in action. What does the Employee Engagement suggest? Simply put it says that organizations have to be homogenous, close knit and all its constituents bonded strongly.
The task before all of us therefore is identifying ways and strategies to be put in place in the people area so that the employee contribution will be what is needed. From fear and reprimand, from wages and perquisites and from recognition and rewards to offering growth opportunities we have tried everything and yet find we need more effective interventions to get the best out of people!
So, back to the fundamentals! What makes a man tick? While it is true that what will motivate "A" may not necessarily motivate "B" as individuals differ from each other. They may be similar but are not identical. Industry's challenge is to weave such psychologically dissimilar resource into one unified force at the service of the organization. At individual level, preferences may differ in details but the culture will reveal many issues on which the people at large will act as a one unified mass! Our solutions lie here. A brief look at the literature and practices displays various approaches being followed by industry to achieve "employee engagement". Since "pay" and "performance" are no longer tied into a "give-give" relationship, performance has to be extracted just as pay will be extracted as a rightful due. The emphasis is on all strategies to ensure desired collective performance is obtained. This is essential as mere good pay may not be able to induce good performance. Industry therefore underscores economic compulsions of this equation of pay and performance. From "No Work-No Pay" to "Good Work-Good Pay" represent this reality of performance being induced by promise of good pay! Earlier to this performance was driven by the "power to punish" enjoyed by the employers. When both these strategies became ineffective for various reasons, newer approaches like considering "wage" as an "investment" instead as mere "cost" and "performance" as ROI rather than an outcome of a "quid pro quo". Then we took the view to consider human being as an important, animate resource with natural aspirations for growth and improvement in standard of living! Our approaches have undergone continuous metamorphosis! All through, I suspect we took time to realize that when the employee has a stake in the performance, he tends to work better. Everything that is "mine" gets my best attention-be it my family, friends, city, country or the job and the organization! In old western movies you
What is being practiced is fine, innovative and perhaps useful to some extent but most of these are "employee events" with limited utility and after a while the power to engage diminishes as the practice becomes a ritual.
often heard the question, "What's in it for me?" It signifies the fact that when individual has personal stake in the task he tends to put in his best effort. This approach still had the economic undertones. Paraphrased, it indicated the golden truth that when employees are involved (engaged) they put in their best efforts. We will return to this point as we go on but for the time being let us look at the organizations. Survival, Success and Growth of any organization, including a family, NGO, Sports Team or a corporate, is determined by its UNITY, COMPETENCE and FLEXIBILITY and a few other strengths, in existence and in action. What does the Employee Engagement suggest? Simply put it says that organizations have to be homogenous, close knit and all its constituents bonded strongly. Individuals possess requisite competence; else they may not be employed in the first place. Flexibility as a feature of any organization is a part of its culture and with effort it can be acquired. But the primary requirement is to achieve a homogenous, close knit and strongly bonded structure of the organization. If these three factors are in place, there is every chance of success even in turbulent times. Now let us consider what are the usual bonding devices in an organization. Reviewing existing practices adopted, I find serious confusion about the concept. What is being practiced is fine, innovative and perhaps useful to some extent but most of these are "employee events" with limited utility and after a while the power to engage diminishes as the practice becomes a ritual (which it is bound to, over a period of time due to inherent weaknesses, primarily related to remoteness with the concept of employee engagement!). These are useful and should be continued with for their limited use also. We will look at some practices that are termed as Employee Engagement Programmes. 1. Employee Stock Option Programme (ESOP): The origin of this programme is old in Indian industry and ESOP does not seem to have caught on the fancy of employees as it was though it would. There are many reasons for this. Without generalizing, a few reasons are: (a) Employees invest only when they can afford to! The expense priority decides that. If my priority is different from the one that the organization thinks it is, I will be unhappy if some money, instead coming into my hands, comes in the form of "equity" of my employer, even if this being financed without touching my emoluments! (b) Even if I were to invest my money at this stage, I would rather choose myself, where to invest instead of being forced, as it were! (c) The returns on such investment, in absolute terms would be dependent on the dividends declared on which I have no control!
WHAT ORGANISATIONS DO FOR ENGAGING EMPLOYEES... We have recently implemented bi-weekly lunches with the CEO (all questions welcome) - groups of 12 staff all levels, all departments. Additional activities include: two days off annually for charitable work; departmental cook off challenge; family picnic; company sponsored luncheons/breakfasts for reaching corporate milestones. -BARBARA ESAU, VP, Human Resources at Legal & General, America
1. Employees given a color coded note pad each month. Then they use their pad to thank other employees for their help, kind words, etc You can take this another step by having employees turn in their "thank you's at the end of the month and then the company can recognize the top recipients (1 or multiple) with announcements, luncheon, etc. 2. Have management send personalized thank you's to the home of an employee who did something special, who has been giving a special effort, etc.These will often end up being read by the rest of the family. My son called me long distance to read one he received. 3. A monthly surprise recognition calendar for your employees that is sponsored by the company (this may be a challenge for large multi - site companies). Such things as putting out candy for everyone one day, celebrating Cinco De mayo with special soft drinks or dishes from mexico, an ice cream social one day, serving ice cream floats another month, friendly March Madness competition with a trophy for the winner and a gag gift for the lowest total, etc. Any of these can have a dramatic affect on team moral. I always had the first 2 in place for only a specific time period. This prevented them from becoming yesterday's news. I have found that all three are better received by my employee groups than the more custumary Employee of the Month and Year Programs. One other point mentioned earlier in this discussion - Immediate, public, praise to an individual or a group, that is specific (recognizing a specific occurance) cost nothing and has a dramatic affect when delivered properly. - John Holme SPHR, Human Resources Professional In our organization with a strength of 240 employees, we organize a birthday function in the last week of every month for all the employees celebrating their B'day for that month, on the same occasion we introduce the new joinees, followed by cake cutting and give away gifts to the birthday buddies ,this will be followed by few simple/jolly games and end the evening by giving some attractive prizes to those who win in the games and with some important announcements or ER realted info to all and then we go in for snacks, and this happens in a span of max 2 hrs. Raj Kumar, Team Lead - HRat PreludeSys India (P) Ltd Business Manager
May 2012
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WHAT ORGANISATIONS DO FOR ENGAGING EMPLOYEES... We have an annual employee recognition dinner and awards ceremony hosted by the company. It's a pretty big deal and the employees are in the limelight. The award recipients are nominated by employees (according to certain rules) and evaluated by a committee. This fairly inclusive and democratic process reminds everyone of how they fit into the "big picture" and how vital they are to the company's overarching goals, objectives and success. This connection, in turn, fuels employee engagement. JENILEE DEAL, Human Resources Associate at Bailard, Inc.
At a previous job we used the FISH! Philosophy: Be There is being emotionally present for people. It’s a powerful message of respect that improves communication and strengthens relationships. Play taps into your natural way of being creative,enthusiastic and having fun.Play is the spirit that drives the curious mind, as in “Let’s play with that idea!” It’s a mindset you can bring to everything you do. Make Their Day is finding simple ways to serve or delight people in a meaningful, memorable way. It’s about contributing to someone else’s life, not because you want something out of it, but because that’s the person you want to be. Choose Your Attitude means taking responsibility for how you respond to what life throws at you. Once you are aware that your choice impacts everyone around you, you can ask yourself, “Is my attitude helping my team or my customers? Is it helping me to be the person I want to be?” Through The FISH! Philosophy, we build stronger relationships with the team members we work with, the customers we serve, the students we teach and the people we love. Be prepared to be step out of your box when you roll it out. TIM QUINN Human Resources Manager at Republic Waste Services, Inc
Employee engagement directly impacts the bottom line. Some additional ideas are 5k runs,family events,like a picnic at a local park, book readings on professional topics, guest speakers - perhaps up and coming middle managers who need additional practice presenting in front of groups. You can also take part in community projects, like a reading program at local children's schools or hospital or a soup kitchen activity. One of my favorite engaging activities is holding a regular town hall meeting and sharing corporate info that is of interest to generally everyone. But once you start those, you don't want to stop. You can host an "Idol" type contest b/w the employees and let the finalists compete during the company picnic or holiday event. Ensure mgmt participates to increase the positive impact. And last but not least, ensure HR maintains the Open Door policy. KATHRYN VINES PHR, HR-VP Director 22
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May 2012
This is an area, like most HR interventions, that demands extreme care in handling. Execute well you will reap a golden harvest and fail to conceptualize properly or a failure to execute with necessary conviction, you will regret for a long time as the first casualty will be that of credibility!
2. Suggestion Schemes: Not impressed as only a few participate in such schemes and the rewards are generally not attractive. Only a few may get engaged and others may still remain outside the engagement circle. 3. Picnics: Limited potency to engage employees. Usually a yearly event. How well executed will decide how the participants will get engaged and for how long! 4. Birthday/Anniversaries Celebration: A most ritualistic exercise. Creates more harm than good. 5. Encouragement for skills and hobbies like poetry, singing. Again limited utility for a few. 6. Recognition and Rewards Programmes: Well, how open and transparent are these? Are there norms of expected conduct and achievement? Is there an assurance of objective assessment? Here also only a few may benefit but the spirit of participation and competition may be helpful for a longer duration. 7. Apprentice: This seems to be good one. One is appointed an "apprentice" for specified time in a function other than his own and on successful completion of apprenticeship he is suitably recognized. The concerned individual stands to gain knowledge, exposure and enhancement of his utility to the organization and for that reason many would like to join up! But some of the most interesting views and approaches are: 1. "Why not treat employees with respect?" The question says it all. If this is the culture of an organization, there is greater chance of their employees being better engaged in the life and programmes of the organization. 2. Research by Kenneth Blanchard companies indicated following eight factors as most significant for achieving employee engagement. (a) Meaningful Work: It is the meaning of my work and how it contributes to the well being of the organization that keeps me engaged with organization! (b) Collaboration: If the organization prides itself of a collaborative culture, employees feel, safe secure, included and tend to be engaged. (c) Fairness: If I am assured of a fair treatment in an organization I like to be with that organization. (d) Autonomy: While organization's performance is a consequence of team work, it is still necessary that defined autonomy needs to be built into in each job and each job holder must be empowered to work such autonomy. (e) Recognition: Being recognized for accomplishments is a strong source of satisfaction for
each human being. If the organization is alert enough and has well laid down systems for due and timely recognition, it will be blessed will a lot of stable, performing and committed employees. (f) Growth: Nature signifies change as indication of life but in the organizational context, its members (employees) understand growth as the primary and essential consequence of competent work. Where the organizational system provides for meeting growth aspiration of its members it will become a preferred organization. But growth can be real or fictitious! More pay, fancy titles and greater visibility may satisfy as growth indicators though growth up the hierarchy in terms of enlarged responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities mean real growth to many. Such growth should be possible to the employees. Training inputs to obviate "blind ally" or limited growth jobs should be worked out by the organization such that the competent will never be stopped by such reasons! (g) Connectedness with the leader: When you have a comfortable relationship with the leader you feel assured and work under no stress. Under this condition your performance qualitatively improves-you get better connected with the organizational reality. Developing such connectedness with the leader is an effective approach to engage employees with organizational situation. They must feel a validated constituent part of the organization. (h) Connectedness with colleagues: What holds good for the superiorsubordinate relationship holds equally good for the peer level relationships since that is the essence of team work. Interconnectedness and interdependence are two vital factors for collective performance. The more the organization structures its environment and culture to validate these factors the more it will be blessed with engaged employees. 3. Another similar view and opinion states "Actual culture of the organization and how are employees, in fact "included (or excluded) that makes the real difference!" How true! You must ask questions, listen to the answers and use the employee feedback to make changes and improvements and then to inform them of actions taken by you makes for a culture of credibility and encourages employees to be and to remain engaged! Through such time tested methods the organizations must create environment of shared respect and appreciation and to show genuine interests in employees as individual human beings! In the end the following points emerge significant to creation of engaged employees who take the organization further into the future of success and excellence!
WHAT ORGANISATIONS DO FOR ENGAGING EMPLOYEES... 1.Company Events (birthday and theme parties, team building outings, sports fests, etc.) where our employees get the opportunity to join the organizing commitees 2. Tea Time with the General Manager where our employees get to say what they feel or think about goings on in the office, work issues, etc.They also get the chance to quiz the General Manager about stuff they'd like to know about the company like where the company is going in the next few months, or explanations regarding certain rules or regulations 3. Recognition Days where we recognize performers during the past month. We also have annual awarding ceremonies for the company's best employees for the year. 4. Games which we do on certain days to liven up the production floor. ALBERT DAGNALAN HR-Admin & Training Manager at IElev8 Contact Solutions
1. No employee engagement programme must be or even appear to be a "gimmick"! Do what you will, sincerely and with total conviction. 2. Employee Engagement Programmes and the organizational culture can never be at variance with each other. That will be suicidal to the success of the programme. You will end up with not engaged employees but with a lot of skeptical members of the organization who have no faith in organizational efforts. 3. Be careful with "Employee Events" like, Birthday/Anniversary celebrations, picnics, sports, Hall of fame, Festival celebrations, family get together. These are good but have limited utility. They either become rituals or benefit only a few and that too perhaps on issues that have more PR value than any substantive good to create engagement. 4. Creating an organizational environment that is conducive of excellent performance, team work, transparency, sanctifying bona-fide actions and the willingness to account for the bona-fide of actions, credibility, learning, enriching relationships is a critical pre-condition to any employee engagement programmes. Without a conducive environment, such efforts to promote employee engagement will not produce the desired results. 5. IN short, this is an area, like most HR interventions, that demands extreme care in handling. Execute well you will reap a golden harvest and fail to conceptualize properly or a failure to execute with necessary conviction, you will regret for a long time as the first casualty will be that of credibility! I am NOT against Employee Engagement Programmes per se` but am insistent on proper concepts, well thought out programmes, constant review and revision as may be needed. To that end it is very useful to involve the employees at large in the conceptualization and execution stage and to make these programmes as platforms for leadership training and people skills development for the participants! BM
Some of the engagement activities that i can think about. 1. Counsellor/ mentor/ coaching program 2.Top Talent programs 3. Orientation programs 4. Buddy Program 5. Employee groups According to me engagement involves right from when an employee actually carries on his joining formalities in the organization he has joined. we need to map him on the employee life cycle and need to carry out engagement activities. SUNIL SUBBRAMANIYAM Senior Manager-HR at Symphony Services
Courtsey :“HR Professional Group� Moderator :Vishal Nagda Business Manager
May 2012
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Understanding Employee Engagement Disengaged employees are53% less productive than their engaged counter-parts. One in three employees is disengaged and is not putting forth his/her maximum effort. Studies across multiple organizations indicates that the cost of disengaged employee is substantially high. Indian companies ranked the highest as compared to the global peers when it comes to the employee confidence and effective leadership in the firm.
Chinmay Kumar Podder
Executive Director, NINL, Bhubsneswar
Engagement
is the aggregate energized feeling; one has about one's worth that emerges as product of the feeling of urgency, focus , intensity and enthusiasm. An engaged employee is one who is fully involved in, and is enthusiastic about his or her work and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interest. Employee engagement is measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to the job, colleagues and organization which profoundly influence their willingness to learn and perform at work. Thus engagement is distinctly different from satisfaction, motivation, culture, climate, and indeed difficult to measure. Engagement deals with the emotional content-challenging role, growth opportunities while satisfaction is the function of the hygiene factors.
Categories According to the "Gallup",the consulting organisation there are 3 different types of people:ENGAGED- 'Engaged' employees are builders.They want to know the desired expectations for their role so that they can meet and exceed them.They are naturally curious about their company and their place in it. They perform at consistently high levels.They want to use their talents and strength at work everyday.They work with passion and drive innovation and move their organisation forward. NOT ENGAGED-Not engaged employees tend to concentrate on task rather than goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish.They want to be told what to do just so that they can do it and say they have finished. They focus on 24
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CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGHLY ENGAGED Will always speak positive Are committed to stay Are intellectually and emotionally involved Highly productive Are not easily distracted Enjoy their work
accomplishing task visa-vis achieving an outcome.Employees who are not engaged tend to feel their contributions are being overlooked,and their potential is not being tapped.They often feel this way because they don't have productive relationship with their managers or their co-workers. ACTIVELY DISENGAGED-The actively disengaged employees are the cave dwellers.They are 'Consistently against virtually everything' .They are not just unhappy at work;they're busy acting out their unhappiness. They sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity.Everyday actively disengaged workers undermine what their actively engaged co-workers accomplish.As workers increasingly rely on each other to generate products and services the problems and tensions that are fostered by actively disengaged workers can cause great damage to organisation functioning.
WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... I have been researching "employee engagement and its impact on business results" for quite some time. I have found that systematic "programs" or "activities" rarely work, and often have a negative impact. Employee engagement is a completely individual thing. Our unique personality drives our preferences and motivators. The factor that has the greatest impact on engagement- and therefore business results- is the quality of the relationship between employee and supervisor. Companies that focus on the skills of their managers and allow for individualism in the workplace usually see significant returns. If you are serious about engaging your workforce, I highly suggest you re-read "First Break all The Rules" by Marcus Buckingham....it is still the best reference on employee engagement! SARA CHRISTIANSEN VP of Client Services, Ideation Consulting
Characteristics/attributes of employees who are highly engaged They will always speak positive about the company to others including clients,customers,colleagues or friends. They are committed to stay with organization no matter what even at the cost of a financially. Better opportunity. They are intellectually and emotionally involved in their work , give 100% , feel passionate about its goals and align themselves with the values of the organization. They are highly productive and stay focused. They are not easily distracted. They are not the ones who will frequently look at the clock to find whether it is time to leave the office. They enjoy their work and are proud to tell people that they work for the company. They go the Xtra mile to help their customers and colleagues and they would like to stay and develop a career with the company.
Work place engagement -what it impacts? Employee engagement has a direct impact on the organization results. Engaged employees positively impact organizational results and return to stakeholders as they perform better than others. Employee engagement has direct impact on retention rate too. Employee engagement can serve as a great management tool to retain talent. Engaged employees will stay with the company, be an advocate of the company and its products and services and contribute to business success. Engagement has a significant impact on the motivation of employees. While the reverse may not necessarily be true, engaged employees have always been found to be inspired and motivated.
As Management,we recognize how important it is for our employees to be "engaged" or feel they are an active contributor to the life and success of the company and not just some part of a faceless, insensitive machine.I recommend that companies should readily employ such activities to drive their organization forward. Employee participation is a must to get things done, and having the sense of appreciation or recognition empowers them to do more. But there is also the other side of this that management has to prepare for. For most employees, it's really great to be doing this the first few times, but as we've noticed, there are some employees who fall out or become disenchanted with such activities, especially when it becomes so routine. Perhaps there may be cultural influences and personal differences that are causes for this, but besides having a list of what activities you can do for employee engagement, can we also mention what H.R. Professionals or the company management can do as a follow through to SUSTAIN employee engagement for the long run and KEEP the employees "engaged". ALBERT DAGNALAN, HR-Admin & Training Manager at I-Elev8 Contact Solutions
Business Manager
May 2012
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WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... "Events" and "activities" have their place. However, I believe it's the actual culture of the organization and how employees are included (or excluded) that makes the real difference. Ask questions and listen to their answers. Use employees' feedback to make changes and improvements and let them know you are making the changes based on their feedback. If you can't implement a suggestion, explain why. Why should employees bother to be engaged if they feel unappreciated or unheard? What's going well? What's not? What's making their jobs unnecessarily difficult? Work with them to understand the issues and find solutions. Set clear goals and expectations. Provide regular feedback. Listen to feedback. Allow employees control and job autonomy where possible.Create an environment of ownership. Open communication. Consistently communicate the great things accomplished by your company and individual employees or teams. Share how employees make a difference. Share organizational challenges and problems. Ask for their ideas.Make sure the employee understands how their performance impacts the organization. In short,create an environment of shared respect and appreciation, and show genuine interest in the employee as an individual. ANGELA HARVEY SPHR,Trusted Advisor, Passionate Leader and Owner of HR Revelations
IMPACTS : Organisation results Retention rates Motivation Culture and engagement Culture is intangible for some but it has a major impact on the feeling or climate in any organization. Whilst there is no right culture, there are certain environments which build engagement, where as others do the opposite and leaders can play an important role in building a culture which draws employees in rather than pushes them away. The TCS culture has prominence of job content (efficient and less stressful);merit based performance and flexible working hours . A major culture difference that TCS has over other companies is its philosophy and commitment to employee development. Microsoft culture has been profoundly influenced by its growth. The constant promotion and rotation of existing personnel into new jobs gives the company an edge to make employees stay for long. Managers emphasize both values and business results to create a high performance culture, enabling the organization to consistently achieve solid performance through the actions of motivated employees who are aligned with the goals and mission of the company.
Factors that drive employee engagement Factors that drive employee engagement include leaders who inspire confidence in future managers who recognize employees and emphasize quality and improvement , opportunity to grow and farms showing genuine commitment to employees. Employee engagement is directly influenced by following factsGrowth of the organization Value addition experienced by employees Employee perception of the organization
Key levers for employee engagement Talent Management should be viewed as a stand alone disciple focusing on hiring,nurturing and retaining the best talent to meet an organisation’s needs, and truly effective Talent Management only arises when an organisation has clarity around which aspects of Talent to focus on.The key to talent management in times of cutbacks is, unsurprisingly, ensuring talented members of staff are kept within the organisation if at all possible. This may mean moving staff around departments or even changing their job specifications if necessary, but with communication from managers to talented staff explaining why specific actions are being taken, these are likely to be better received in periods of economic downturn than at other times. KHUSHBOO TAK Assistant Manager HR @ IndiGo Airlines
They are 4 primary organization levers that needs to be managed-reward system that differentiates between level of performance, culture that fosters mutual reliance and friendship, role designed to make people feel that their strengths are leveraged and resource allocation process that are just and fair. If we manage the basic processes most of the disillusionment that employees face will be taken care.
Some ways to ensure workplace engagement The process of engagement is what tells employees down the line about the differences they make. No matter how small their part, they must be given the power to see that they are building an edifice, not just brick-wall. Many times all that required is genuine appreciation in the form of a complaint, not even formal recognition; a pay hike or an award. Understand your employees needs as what might motivate one may not be necessarily liked by everyone. Convey to employees that they are valued individuals, people who make a difference to the Organization and you count on them at every step. Take feedback from them and be honest on how you are going to act on their feedback. Work on attendance policies that help correct work and
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WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... family balance. Try to implement regular review of performance in the organization. Make an effort to inspire and motivate employees on a regular basis. Thank them for their work. provide an atmosphere that shows value and constant appreciation. Build an attitude that encourages and provide support to achieve their career goals.
Promoting Engagement at workplace-HR strategies There are several HR strategies to promote workplace engagement. The number can however be shortlisted to fire and can be better expressed in the form of a acronym V.O.I.C.E where each letter denotes an important component and is instrumental in promoting and sustaining engagement. V-Vision- which is an emotion as well as a financial connection as to why people should be part of the organization. HR's role is therefore to set a shared and inspiring vision. O-Opportunity - It is necessary to assess and find whether organization provides adequate opportunity to grow and develop. If not create adequate opportunities for growth both at horizontal and vertical level. I-incentive - If you do a good job, do you get both financial and non-financial reward? Whether the performance management system provides for adequate rewarding the performers? HR must probe and get an answer to these fundamental questions. If the answer is not affirmative HR should facilitate developing systems which intelligently discriminates between high performers and non-performers and reward accordingly. C-Communication - Communication is about telling people about what is going on and gives the confidence that people are cared. E-Entrepreneurship - It is defined as things such as flexibility on people can work. Such flexibility generates a feeling that they are not slave to the organization. HR's initiatives have to incorporate and introduce flexibilities which gives employees freedom of choice.
Measuring Employee engagement Ten common things how companies measure engagement:1.Pride in employer 2.Satisfaction with employer 3.Job satisafaction 4.Opportunity to perform well at challenging work 5.Recognition and positive feedback for one's contributions 6.Personal support from one's supervisor. 7.Effort above and beyond the minimum. 8.Understanding the link between on's job and the organisation mission. 9.Prsopects for future growth with one;s employer 10.Intention to stay with one's employer. Measuring employee engagement is a smart business strategyto improve productivity and attain Business objectives.It allows the organisation to track progress or slippage and determine what gaps exist. In terms of organisatinal engagement,attendance and retention,motivation and aspirations.
Employee engagement becomes one of the key element in this competitive era. In the present organizational atmosphere all the line managers are responsible for creating activities with in the team as well as the HR professionals are responsible for creating such an environment/culture in the organization. Best employee engagement practices should start from the selection or recruitment stage itself and HR has to develop for the good Induction & orientation program for the new joiners, regular updates and training for on job, certification program, In house Magazine, etc and also all the jobs demands in an increasingly competitive environment, can wear down the sense of connection, commitment and excitement about any job. Flexi working hours, Birthday party, sports day, quarterly employee recognition award, appreciation of the good job, CSR activities, cultural day, employee outing, etc will help to employee to engage always this would be result to retention of employees and reduce the attrition cost. ANOOP KUMAR Asst Manager - HR
People need attention frequently and consistently to feel valued. The ultimate level of engagement is even more important and possibly the most significant recognition and demonstration that the employee is valued — involving employees in goal-setting, decision making, problem solving, creative and innovative discussion & projects,and implementation of decisions and plans followed by recognition.To accomplish this level of engagement the organization must invest some time and money in training managers at all levels to think this way, delegate more responsibility and do it skillfully,give frequent skillful performance feedback, coach people through mistakes (rather than blaming & shaming), confront in a caring, concerned manner when performance does not meet expectations or behavior is unacceptable and get a commitment for change, follow-up to assure the change occurs and reward it with recognition and gratitude when it does occur or confront again if it does not occur, agree upon what will happen and the consequences if it does not. Managers need to develop relationships with each employee to learn each person's values, goals, passions, etc. and work with them to assure that their motivational needs are met! SAM LLOYD President at SuccessSystems, Inc.
Business Manager
May 2012
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WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... The way to measure the effectiveness of the engagement activites is through feedback mechanism. Form an informal cross functional group in the organization by asking for the mandatory volunteers from each function. Once you have the representatives from cross functions,name the group like "Josh" or any other motivating name you want to give. Involve them for each activity planning & implementation and form a consensus for organizing the activity. Ask them to maintian the secrecy for the activity.Later on, you can have the feedback directly from them on how the activity is being received by employees in the respective function. SHWETA MOHANTY An innovative HR Professional Communicate the vision and mission in an inspiring way. Make employees believe they are valued - such employees share ideas,work harder and relate better to customers. A focus on the intrinsic factors results in engaged employees with deep commitment. DILIP NAIDU Visiting Faculty at Symbiosis Centre for Management And Human Resource
In my Opinion an individual is governed by its Emotions, so why not focus on Emotional Engagement. By creating a Friendly & Light Environment even outside office This can be done by involving their near & dear ones in family functions & small informal gatherings, Various other creative Ideas are already presented above by all members .which are really great & a great Help. Theoretically, there are 6 factors of Engagement, these arePeople Work Quality of Life Opportunities Company Practices Rewards. We conducted a training Program in Essar for all Leaders to encourage Employee Engagement & in a group Exercise we received highest action Points on Quality of Life, Which again shows that On this factor maximum efforts can be planned & executed,& this is highly Influential Factor as well group Exercise we received highest action Points on Quality of Life,Which again shows that On this factor maximum efforts can be planned & executed,& this is highly Influential Factor as well. NEHA HAMILTON Nodal officer at Essar
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Workplace Engagement Surveys A workplace engagement survey is the key to develop a high performance fully engaged workforce. Employee surveys are becoming a popular management tool . They not only help management investigate whether employees align with corporate values but also identify problem areas and elicit information to increase engagement.
Some findings of studies on engagement Disengaged employees are53% less productive than their engaged counter-parts. One in three employees is disengaged and is not putting forth his/her maximum effort. Studies across multiple organizations indicates that the cost of disengaged employee is substantially high. Indian companies ranked the highest as compared to the global peers when it comes to the employee confidence and effective leadership in the firm. While comparing the country level employee engagement differences India is ranked highest(71%) and Japan ranked lowest (38%). In comparision to workers in Asia-Pacific,Europe or North America Indian employees enjoy higher levels of job satisfaction and connect more strongly with the objectives of thir organisation. According to Accenture research report:The High Performance workforce study 2007-India:- the Indian working population list 3 items as important to their satisfaction in the work place. Career development opportunities - 30% More challenging work - 20% More opportunities to do what I do best - 19% The survey coducted by 'Towers Perrins' shows that highly engaged workers believe that they can do and do contribute more directly to the Business results than the less engeged employees. For Instance, 84% of the highly engeged employeed believe that they can positively impact the quality of their company's product compared with the 31% of th disengaged. 72%of the highly engaged believe that they can postitvely affect the customer service vs 27% of the disengaged. 68% of the highly engaged believe that they can positively impact cost in their job or unit vs 19 % of the disengaged.
Why Engagement initiatives often fail? One of the reasons why large scale engagement initiatives are hit and miss is that what is motivating for one worker might be demotivating for another. For ex-research conducted by Genos international found that 53%employees are motivated by a role that involves contribution to society but 47% are not. Similarly 43% of employees are motivated where engagement is highly competitive while 57% are not. And 58% find well established policies and procedures motivating while 42%do not. Managers need to understand the motivational drivers of the workers who report them and treat Individuals accordingly.
Engagement-It Is primarily line manager's responsibility HR professionals are only the custodians of the engagement process-it is the line manager who has to become a great manager and has to engage his/her team. If a line manager doesn't take the responsibility of developing his own people,
WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... Employee engagement initiative can be driven by introducing some practices in the organization like: New employee orientation program to be supported by Buddy program wherein the new employee gets a colleague/ peer from day 1 Mentorship program for experienced & potential resources can be a good channel of bridging the gap between the Leadership team and others Web T-conference from the CEO / Leadership team on any given topic can generate good enthusiasm as well keep employees engaged. VIJAYA SEN Dy. General Manager-Human Resources at Super Religare Laboratories Ltd.
assessing them, giving them adequate feedback, supporting them when required , helping them to grow professionally and in the organization HR cannot drive engagement under any circumstances. The responsibility of engaging team lies with the line manager-HR is only a felicitator.
Conclusion Workplace engagement is all about generously caring for your employees. They should be aware of their employer's attitude towards them which means that there should be ways and means to convey employee's concern to his employer . Employer must make clear that they care for them. This should be part of the company policy, so that employees can actually benefit from it. This policy will reap long term results for the followers . It should however be remembered that engagement is something that cannot be forced upon . So it is important to work towards developing an inspired workforce with an attitude that values constructive employees feedback , and be accountable and work hard to incorporate changes as deemed necessary . In the best organization engagement is more than a human resource initiative. It is a strategic function for the way they do the business. An organisation should thus recognise employees,more than any other variable a powerful contributors to company's competitive positon. Therefore employee engagement should be a continuos process of learning,improvement,measuremenet and action.We should hence conclude that raising and maintaining employee engagement lies in the hands of an organisation and requires a perfect blend of time, effort, commitement and investment to craft a successful endeavour. BM
In my opinion, Emp Engagement Activities differ from domain to domain, company to company.What is really important before arriving at the list of activities is arriving at the focus areas for your company. These focus areas could range from communication, management approachability,grievance handling,transparency & culture, Growth opportunities, Reward & Recognition, policies, Work life balance, etc. The employee needs to be engaged and involved at all stages of employee lifecycle.This implies: PREHIRING: Value Proposition and Employer Branding HIRING: Interesting Recruitment procedures (management games, conversation on coffee, etc.), Regular updates and involvement in team meetings much before joining. JOINING: Welcoming, Connect, Buddy assignment, regular feedback, concern handling, approprtiate training STINT: Employer Branding (pride in employer), communication, Skip Level Meets, Management meets, Grievance Handling, Transparent Performance management, Reward & Recognition, Mentoring & Coaching, Growth opportunities, Feeback and satisfaction surveys, Corporate Social Responsibilty, Green and comfortable environment and faicilities, Medical support, Physical & Psychological well being, Counseling services, Work life balance/ Family involvement, Fun @ work and festival celebrations. Info & knowledge sharing, Policies. MRUNMAYI VASA Executive (HR) at Patni Computer Business Manager
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The Importance of Employee Engagement How managers motivate their staff Pay Raises increase performance by 30% Job Redesigns raise performance by 17% Participation in goal setting improves performance by 1%
Likelihood of employees leaving*
3% are always looking elsewhere 8% are content to stay 33% think they might leave
Goal Setting raises performance by 16%
55% think they will definitely leave
*
The top reason for leaving is that there’s no room for advancement.
1 in 3
employees are engaged at work
What do un-engaged employees do with their time? Sleep
In a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation, almost 30% of workes fall asleep or become extremely fatigued during a work month.
Play Games
U.S. workers spend more than half a billion hours every year playing online games at work.
Social Media Social media sites cost employers upwards of $2.25 billion every year in lost. average employee spends 4.5 hours a week engaging in Tea/Coffee Socialize The gossip.That’s equivalent to a 6-week paid vacation. Smoke
On average, employees who smoke are away from their stations 50% more often than their non smoking co-workers.
*
On average. It will cost an employer 10%-30% of an employee’s gross income to replace him/her.
Trust in executives can have more than twice the impact on engagement levels than trust in immediate managers. 30
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52% of employees trust their organization’s executives. 43% of engaged employees know their managers as people. 87% of enaged employees trust their managers. 57% of unengaged employees don’t.
What drives perceptions within a company : * Management is approachable, easy to talk with. * I am given the resources and equipment necessary to do my job.
* Management keeps me informed about important issues and changes.
So how do I engage my employees? Everyone in the comapany is given a slice of the responsibility pie. It’s a matter of properly identifying each employee’s role as a part of the greater role, and instilling accountability to perform these roles.
On the Executive Level : Executives have significant influence on the engagement levles of everyone in the company.
Trust. Executives need to speak with passion about engagement and business results, but if they don’t have the trust of the workforce, their messages will be lost or twisted. Communication. This needs to be a priority, in frequency, appropriateness and depth (the “what” and “why”).
Culture. Executives must be diligent in holding themselves and their peers accountable for building a culture that fuels high performance and engagement.
On the Managerial Level : Managers represent a key leverage point in helping individual empoyees align with and commit to the objectives of the organization.
Coaching. The effectiveness of a manager is measured by not only what they do, but how active they are in the growth of their staff. Relatonships. Employees must trust in their managers’ ability and character-and understand their personal motivations.This is achieved through building relationships.
Dialogue. Managers should get to know their staff.They need to understand not only their speical talents as individuals, but also their unique enagement drivers.What works for A may not work for B.
On the Individual Level : First and foremost, the individual employee needs clear direction on what the organization is trying to achieve.
Ownership. Managers can coach their employees on how to achieve organizational and personal goals, but the employees themselves must own the roles they play.
Clarity. The executives can communicate strategy and set the tone, but it’s up to the individuals to make sure they are clear on all concepts and initiatives.
Action. The ideal employee will understand his/her own individual values, interests, talents and aspirations, and find a way to use them to benefit the company. Source : Comprehensive view from many findings/survey results on employee engagement done during last few years.
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There are two strong workplace myths that have come to stay in India Inc. 1. Work can't be fun and we must therefore have fun separately at work (!). Worse still, (2. employees will be engaged if we create a lot of fun at work.
Employee Engagement
A key challenge for HR‌ Dr. A Jagan Mohan Reddy
Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad
Why Employee Engagement is an Issue Today? According to the Watson Wyatt's Work Asia Survey Report for 200809[Business Today,14 June 2009]the employee engagement score, measured in terms of engagement, commitment and line of sight (clarity on the direction of business) has declined 3 per cent in India compared to the last year. "The dip in line of sight shows that organizations need to invest more in communicating the direction of business to employees. That's especially true in the tough economic environment that we are in at present.
Slowdown Blues
Engagement is declining in Asia-Pacific Countries Australia China Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines 0 2007
10
20 2008
30
40
50
60
70
80
Percentage
Further, according to a 2010[CNN Money.com 3 March, 2011] employee engagement study by Gallup, disengaged employees erode an organization's bottom line, while breaking the spirits of colleagues in the process. Should organizations be worried about a decline in employee engagement? Yes, because lower level of engagement means an overall decline in performance, top performers becoming prone to quitting, and disengagement even at top levels. 32
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WHAT HR PEOPLE THINK ABOUT... Engagement is a serious topic and it refers to employees being involved with and enthusiastic about their work and the company.
Let's look at Taiwan-a barren rock in a typhoon -laden area with no other natural resources to live off. Yet it has the fourth-largest financial reserves in the world and the secret is: Taiwan has mined its 23 million people, their talent, energy and intelligence. In their recent book, co-authored with James A Robinson, Daron, Acemoglu explained that countries thrive when they build political and economic institutions that unleash, empower and protect the full potential of each citizen to innovate, invest and develop. Even the recent SHRM survey found that Employee Engagement is a key challenge for HR and managements need to tackle it sooner than later, lest their performance may get impacted. Lastly, engaged employees are more committed. According to a recent study by customer experience research firm Temkin Group, there is a link between the level of employee engagement and the commitment of employees to their company, The Employee Engagement Benchmark Study, which surveyed 2,400 American employees, also found that companies who are ahead of the game in terms of customer experience tend to have more engaged employees.Temkin found that almost a third of employees are highly engaged, while almost a quarter are disengaged. The research found that highly engaged employees are 480 per cent more committed to helping their company succeeds and 250 per cent more likely to do something good for the company that has not been asked of them. Temkin also found that they are 370 per cent more likely to recommend that a friend apply for a job and 30 per cent less likely to take a sick day. The report concludes that companies should make employee engagement an executive priority, measure employee engagement, create an employee engagement task force and embed employee engagement into the HR fabric.
What Needs to Be Done?
The best way to engage employees in my opinion is to sincerely thank them for their efforts. Make them feel they are integral part of the team no matter what their responsibilities happen to be. The thank you should be specific not just you're doing a good job but that you appreciated the work they did on a project; it can even be thanking the average employee who shows up for work every day on time so you can count her/his job getting done. The activities mentioned above are all good and should be used, but the best way to when the hearts of people is let them know that they are valued and important to the success of the organization. JIM ABRAHAM
I think holding department wise forums once in a month where in employees can raise their concerns and at the same time come up with a feasible solution to their grievance would work apart from the above mentioned ideas.. Here in this activity employees would work on a solution together with their bosses, they would be able to understand each others problems while arriving at a solution, thereby resulting in a better bonding and understanding between the team and the boss. Pamila Sharma HR-Generalist at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
1. Know Your Employee Many companies provide excellent work environment, perks and benefits from mothers rooms, recreation facilities, multi-cuisine restaurants, fitness centres, crèche facilities, adoption leave, sabbaticals and part-time work. While these are great strategies to keep employees engaged, the real secret goes back to fundamental management practices-know your employee [KYE]. We tend to refer to people by the jobs they do rather than their names. This can be disrespectful, especially lower down the professional order, and does impact their morale and commitment as well. We profess to have unity in diversity. We profess to see oneness in all. We profess to speak with respect. Yet, every now and then, we are apt to forget the person and simply look at the job he or she is doing. Same is the case with the garbage collector who comes to our houses. People would say to each other at home, "garbage man" or "kachada-wallah". This man has a name given to him by his parents which defines him and is something he is proud of. Calling him by his name rather than referring to the "duty" he does would be
I would like the HR to talk to each employee in every department, to take a feedback like ... if they want one single change in their current role & responsibility what is it? This has to be personal meeting, which has to be recorded in their employee record. So that good or bad the higher ups are aware of the person's thoughts. VENKATESAN S ZONAL HEAD
Courtsey :“HR Professional Group� Moderator :Vishal Nagda Business Manager
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State of satisfaction, passion and commitment clearly can't be achieved by 'bribing' employees through food and fun events.
respectful of his sensitivities. Let's remember this as we go around in our hi-tech cities, software parks, amazing airports and malls, and come faceto-face with the people who clean the restrooms, the people who serve the coffee, the personnel directing traffic in the car parks, and the many 'nameless' others who keep the system running on well-oiled wheels. When we address a person by his or her given name, we're affirming her identity. Each of us is an individual, unique and special, irrespective of our status in the social pecking order. Let's nor forget one thing: people may forget what you say or give but will never forget how you made them feel. 2. Attend to their Needs to Get Connected It is said that necessity is the mother of invention and definitely it works. Hence, managements should attend to the employee's needs. Generally these can be put in to six universal ones: The first need is respect. We need to be around people who are courteous and considerate. When we are around people who are patronizing, condescending or passive/ aggressive, it sucks the life out of us and keeps us from thriving. The next need is recognition. When we are around people who recognise our task strengths and/or character strengths, it energizes us. It's almost as if we have an emotional battery that needs to be recharged periodically. And the third need is to belong. It's like the old television comedy "Cheers" which was described as a place where "everybody knows your name." When we are a part of a group, a family so to speak, we are more resilient to get through the inevitable difficult seasons in life Three three needs - respect, recognition and belonging - are "relational needs" and when these needs are met, people describe it as "feeling connected" to the people around them. The next two needs are "task mastery needs." One of them is the need for autonomy. We need the freedom to do our work. When we are micromanaged or slowed down by red tape, bureaucracy or controlobsessed personalities (think Nurse Ratched from the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" ), we can't thrive. The next task mastery need is to experience personal growth. When we are engaged in a task that is a good fit with our strengths and it provides the right degree of challenge, we experience a state that psychologists describe as "flow.". Time flies by because when we become immersed in the task we are performing and it provides the optimal degree of challenge. If is under-challenging, we are bored. If it is overchallenging, we are stressed out. With the right 34
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degree of challenge, we are energized. When the task mastery needs are met, people describe it as "feeling connected" to their work. 3. Provide a Reason All of us wake up to the new day with the hope that the day will be great. If this is what helps us get out of the bed and move about with enthusiasm, should not the organizations provide for generating this feeling? Yes, they must encourage people to want to come to work and provide reason for them to do so. Several years ago a large automobile major video graphed employees working on an assembly line then panned the camera to the end purpose of their effort. When the recording was played back, the employees realized how their jobs were impacting the end-product. This brought back passion as every employee on the assembly line saw his task as having purpose. Thus, organizations need to find ways to give them a reason to own the organization. 4. Go Beyond Fun and Frolic Ask any HR manager about employee engagement and pat comes the ready list of actions: offsite parties and picnics, birthdays and anniversaries cricket matches, quizzes and painting competitions, cultural festivals, Friday bashes etc., But we all will be surprised to know that, when Sergey Brin and Larry Page had to[excerpt from Express Computers -July 2010] select a chef for their Google campus they interviewed 25 candidates before settling on Charlie Ayers. For a company founded by two mathematicians who owe their stupendous success to a culture of innovation and creativity, they understood early that it was employee engagement that set them apart from the thousands of other technology companies. Free, healthy and well cooked food was a key ingredient of its employee engagement strategy. The day the company went public the celebration was not a series of senior management speeches about its vision and bright future but a free ice cream station for employees. So in most companies, engagement is (mis)understood as having fun and food. The unsaid message is: work is boring and painful. Let's have some fun and atone for the sin of asking people to work. In this context, there are two strong workplace myths that have come to stay in India Inc. (1) Work can't be fun and we must therefore have fun separately at work (!).Worse still, (2) employees will be engaged if we create a lot of fun at work. But we all must note that engagement is a serious topic and it refers to
Three Cs to gain true EE
CAREER
COMPETENCE
employees being involved with and enthusiastic about their work and the company. Engaged employees have a positive emotional attachment with their work and talk positively about it to others. This state of satisfaction, passion and commitment clearly can't be achieved by 'bribing' employees through food and fun events. Hence, the best thing would be to cater to the following three Cs to gain true employee engagement: a) Career: The opportunity to grow career through promotions, rotations and significant assignments is the most important need of employees. If the company and its managers spend meaningful and genuine time in helping employees grow their careers, employees will definitely feel engaged. b) Competence: While career is about the actual growth, competence is about the ability to grow. Opportunities to learn and apply the learning in real life tasks grow competence and most employees are looking for competenceboosting opportunities. Employees who know that their current jobs are helping them become
CARE
problem and work out the solution together to be a business imperative. This is no soft, touchy-feely, lose-win approach for organizations; it takes much more courage and toughness to go for a true winwin. The opportunity today is to get authentic and real with people-to have open conversations, to look at the problems and honestly share the issues at hand-and then listen to people and let their ideas flow. When mutual understanding and respect is present, the spirit of synergy inevitably starts to develop and contributes immensely organization development. For any business there are three levels of leadership. One is getting somebody to do what you want them to do. The second is getting people to think what you want them to think; then you don't have to tell them what to do because they will figure it out. But the best is getting people to believe what you want them to believe, and if people really fundamentally believe what you want them to believe, they will walk through walls. Yes, employee engagement IS the art of "getting people to believe what you want them to believe." So, that's why Jim Whitehurst's [the president
Just as band, baaraat and baaja does not equate wedding, fun frolic and entertainment can not create sustainable employee engagement competent for future jobs will stay engaged. c) Care: Caring is a fine art that requires managers to be sensitive, empathetic and spontaneous. Caring is experienced by the small day-to-day gestures of managers .Titan, through its initiative, " Grow your own timber"not only created a loyal and engaged workforce but also transformed the city of Hosur in Tamilnadu.Further, through this initiative, Titan created opportunities for the youth of Hosur,a sleepy town at that time bordering Bangalore. As rightly said by someone, just as band, baaraat and baaja does not equate wedding, fun frolic and entertainment can not create sustainable employee engagement and it is time, organisations get serious with their employees. 5. Go for a Buy-In-Strategy The tendency among the managements mostly is to personally assess the situation, come up with a plan of action, and then announce and implement it. If that means downsizing or layoffs, so be it. That particular solution may be necessary in some cases, but in many cases, such "solutions" developed independently, in isolation, and at the top, often create more problems than they solve for one basic reason. They fail to involve people in the problem, and therefore, fail to get their best thinking and commitment. The best thing would be to involve people in the
and CEO of Red Hat, the provider of Linux and other open-source technology.]management philosophy is so refreshingly simple. Yes, it IS all about "getting people to believe what you want them to believe," and although it is hardly simple to make that happen, if you can, you'll find that you have a workforce that will do just about anything to help you move the organization ahead. And that's what employee engagement is all about for. 6. Personalize Rewards/Recognition Today's workforce is exposed to the developed world, is articulate about their needs and wants best of everything-competitive salaries, comfortable lifestyle, job security, work life balance. While it is important to reward the employee, it is more important how we reward him/her.In today's competitive talent market, employees want organizations to personalize as well as customize the R& R philosophy to meet only organizational goals, but also their personal needs and motives such as facilitating an employee, for the wonderful work done, in his family members presence. 7. Reach Out To Get Positive Results We all know that the offering of haldi, kumkum and chaval-turmeric,red powder and uncooked chawal,HKC in short, is a function popular among married woman. Further,in rituals the deity is Business Manager
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Employee engagement IS the art of "getting people to believe what you want them to believe.
always offered Haldi first, Kumkum later and finally the rice grains. The yellow of turmeric is a virile colour, the colour of the sun, spreading across the sky and reaching out to the sky. When sprinkled over the deity the idea is to evoke the deity's grace and power. Turmeric is antiseptic destroying germs as the God destroy demons. Red is the colour of potential energy. Virgin-goddesses are draped in a red sari. Red evokes the sense of fertile red earth before the rains, holding the promise of crops i.e., food. If HKC is how the devotee connects with the deity and gets divine grace we can use this to engage with our employees. As a first step, make our colleagues feel secure, less threatened and extremely comfortable i.e., by cracking a joke etc., Having removed the negative energy with haldi,it is time to add positive energy very proactively. The best method is to compliment the person before others. Even God like stuti or praise. Only after the haldi and kumkum, comes the chaval:the main conversation.Haldi and kumkum create the environment where people feel relaxed and fruitful discussions can take place and successful conclusions arrived. HKC,as an offering establishes the human connection, generates energy where people are happy to share /exchange ideas, thoughts and opinions and the results of a meeting initiated with KKC are always positive. All this is fine. But we all know that with out follow-up and commitment from the top management the above mentioned steps would not yield the desired result i.e., employee engagement Gallup recently issued a brilliant case study of Stryker, a global medical devices company [TLNT Daily, Jan 12, 2012] titled Boosting Engagement at Stryker: How a New Jersey plant changed its culture in less than a year) highlighting several key tenets of success for an employee engagement or strategic employee recognition program.
Key Tenets of Success for Employee Engagement 1. Be Committed: Commitment to increasing engagement requires commitment to creating a workplace environment in which employees choose to engage. And this is not done by one person. It must be seen as a priority by the entire organization as a whole.
2. Secure Executive support: Clear and highly visible executive support to show employees that actions taken and promises made will be followed through. Without that, many employees won't feel the initiative is worth their time. 3. Don't survey unless you plan to follow up: Surveying without follow up action on the results only further disengages employees. No body would be interested to give their honest opinion if they think nothing would come of it. 4. All should own responsibility All employees at every responsibility for engagement.
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have
a
5. Train Managers If a manager fails at engagement today it doesn't mean that they don't care about the engagement of their employees. Instead, work to train those managers on both the importance of engagement and what specific actions they can take to improve engagement. 6. Find local champions "Engagement is individual, and the best advocates for it - and perpetuators of it - are employees. And that voice had to be a loud one." Never assume this is always a person in a management. It's just as likely to be the receptionist, line leader or any other person in the organization who cares about their colleagues and getting the job done. 7. Choose ambassadors to bring good ideas forward Ambassadors play a different role. They carry the messages forward up the chain and then across all employees. These must be people who are respected as well as passionate and excited about moving your engagement and recognition project forward.
Conclusion Employees can be the key factor in determining whether or not a practice sustains profitability especially in a globally competitive environment of today, as all other resources are equally available, affordable and accessible. As a result, having motivated, engaged staff is incredibly important and vital to uphold, if organizations are to prosper and excel. BM
References: 1. Bhattachaya, Soumya,"Falling Employee Engagement", Business Today, 14 June, 2009 2. Hyderabad Chronicle, 12 March, 2012 3. Irvine, Derek,"7 Keys to Successful Employee Engagement; Lessons from Stryker", TLNT Daily, 12 Janaury, 2012. 4. Mint, 14 June, 2011 5. Pattnaik, Devdutt, Establish Connection to yield Positive Results in Business" ,The Economic Times,29 june,2010 6. Thomas L Friedman," Why Nations Fail", Deccan Chronicle,2 April,2012 7. The Hindu Businessline, 22 June, 2011
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level
Identifying Actively Engaged Employees Sarah Cook
M.D., The Stairway Consultancy, U.K.
In
the three examples I experienced in one day, it was clear which employee was engaged. Assuming I was correct and the supermarket employee was highly engaged, I would probably see this through : Cognitive engagement : the degree to which the employee focuses very hard on work. Engaged employees are focused and at one with their work. For example, they are not distracted from what they are doing, they display singlemindedness and high energy. Emotional engagement : the degree to which the employee feels engrossed in the work. Engaged employees are 'in the zone', they are engrossed in what they are doing to the extent that they do not become distracted. They live in the 'here and now' when they are at work. Physical engagement : the degree to which employees are willing to go the extra mile, not just in terms of customer service but also for themselves, for example in taking responsibility for their own learning and development, in finding new ways of doing things and in putting in discretionary effort. Advocacy : the extent to which employees recommend the organization to their family and friends in terms of job opportunities and doing business with the organization. A key determinant is how employees portray the organization to others when they are outside work. Do they show pride in the organization? Do they relate to it and talk as 'we' rather 'they?' There is a buzz about an organization where employees are truly engaged. People feel trusted, valued and empowered. They are emotionally committed and personally involved; there are high levels of motivation and enthusiasm.
One way of describing the level of engagement that an employee has is to gauge their enthusiasm and energy level and the degree of positivity that they display at work. The model has two dimensions. The first is employees' attitude towards the customer, their colleagues and the organization, be it positive or negative. The second is their enthusiasm and drive towards activity, be it positive (active) or negative (inactive). The degree to which people demonstrate a positive attitude and their type and levels of activity can be translated into likely engagement patterns. Figure 1.4 illustrates simple behavioural patterns that can be seen in regard to engagement.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
NEGATIVE
yes men
starts
victims
cynics
ATTITUDE
INACTION
ACTION
Figure 1.4 Engagement levels Employees defined as 'stars' have a positive attitude to change and are action oriented. They have high energy, enthusiasm and make discretionary effort. They are realistic about obstacles they encounter and how to overcome them. Business Manager
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Stars are fully engaged with the organization. Their behaviour is characterized by : giving discretionary effort to serve the customer; seeing the silver lining hidden beneath the dark clouds; viewing change as a challenge and opportunity; treating life as a continuous learning experience; expanding their personal comfort zone. Starts tend to : feel comfortable with the need for change; be open to possibilities and ideas; be optimistic about the long-term future; like to be challenged and stretched; be realists, not afraid of short-term mistakes or setbacks. 'Cynics' display a negative attitude and high levels of activity. This group are actively disengaged. They have a lot of energy and can be very vocal, but what they focus on is the negativewhat is not working in the organization. They are keen to disassociate themselves from the organization and actively tell others why change won't work. Cynics' behaviour is characterized by : always seeing the negatives; criticizing ideas and solutions; expressing frustration; focusing on the past : 'We tried this five years ago...' arguing against change; being oblivious to the consequences of their negativity; bringing other people such as the victims and yes men round to their perspective. Cynics feel : in the right and angry at the world for ignoring them; frustrated when there is confusion and whingeing; not listened to, excluded, constrained; overtly confident in their own ability; rebellious, determined to block change they do not own; unsympathetic to the stress felt by others. 'Yes men' are characterized as neither actively engaged nor disengaged. They are the 'coasters', prepared to drift along, saying the right things but
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following things through with energy, passion or action. Yes men are characterized by behaviour that is about : avoiding taking risks; keeping a low profile; trying to ride thing out without drawing attention to themselves; acknowledging good ideas but being reluctant to change themselves. Although Yes men may be positive about what is happening in an organization, they are reluctant to get involved. They feel threatened when too exposed and are comfortable to watch from the sidelines. 'Victims' can be described as having a negative attitude and lacking drive. This inactivity, coupled with their negative approach towards new ideas, leads to inertia. Although less vocal than cynics, they will are disengaged from the organization; everything is 'done to them', they do not take an active part in organizational life. However, unlike cynics they lack the energy or drive to vocalize this. Victims react by : avoiding confronting issues; retreating into 'safety'- burying their heads in the sand; avoiding risk, doing the minimum; avoiding thinking about what might happen. Victims may feel unhappy and/or depressed, overwhelmed by work, powerless and fearful of mistakes, but their lack of confidence means that they do not actively seek to find other employment or to improve their current working life. Characteristic phrases which each type may use are shown in Figure 1.5.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE
NEGATIVE ATTITUDE
yes men ‘I would’ ‘I could’
starts ‘I will’ ‘I can’
victims ‘I won’t’ ‘I can’t’
cynics ‘It won’t’ ‘It can’t’
INACTION
ACTION
Figure 1.5 Characteristic phrases
It is clear from this model that starts are the people who exceed customers'; expectations and deliver the 'wow factor'. They are advocates for the organization and are truly champions of the brand. These people help create a high degree of customer engagement with the brand. What do I mean by this? Customer engagement describes the health of the relationship between a customer and a brand. This relationship drives financial success. It can be characterized by how well the organization delivers against its brand promise, to what extent it treats its customers fairly, and how well it deals with complaints and issues. Research shows that customer apostles are five times as likely to remain loyal to the brand, they spend more with the organization, are more profitable as customers and promote the brand to other people. Typically, highly engaged employees believe that they can positively impact the quality of their company's products and services as well as positively impacting the customer experience.
From his recently published book “Guide to employee engagement� by Kogan Page, U.K./India.
Handling disengaged employees NOT-ENGAGED Efforts to raise levels of engagement are worthwhile for those in the not-engaged range. Not-engaged employees tend to concentrate on tasks rather than the goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish. They want to be told what to do just so they can do it and say they have finished.They focus on accomplishing a task vs. achieving an outcome. Managers who only provide tasks to an employee reinforce not-engaged behaviors and actually move 180 degrees away from engaging the heart, mind, and soul of that person. Employees who are not-engaged tend to feel their contributions are being overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped. They often feel this way because they don't have productive relationships with their managers or with their coworkers. The way to get people to become a part of an organization is through relationships. Employees who feel disconnected emotionally from their coworkers and supervisor do not feel committed to their work. They hang back and do the minimum because they don't believe anyone cares. These employees "lower the bar" for themselves by doing the least amount of work necessary. Managers need to demonstrate a sense of really caring about employees and what's important to them. Managers can help employees refocus on the demands of their roles and on the skills,knowledge, and talents they bring to their jobs. The manager who takes the time to have
a dialogue about an employee's strengths and how these can make a difference forges essential ties and connections that lead to employee commitment.
ACTIVELY DISENGAGED Too often people have to work with others who have become disenchanted and actively disengaged.Actively disengaged employees aren't just unhappy at work. They act out their discontent and sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity. They undermine the work of others.They are not just indifferent to company goals and mission; they express mistrust and outright animosity. As workers increasingly rely on each other to generate products and services, the problems and tensions that are fostered by actively disengaged workers can cause great damage to an organization's functioning. The Gallup Organization estimates that there are 22 million actively disengaged employees that cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in lost productivity, including absence, illness and other problems that result when workers are unhappy at work. A good manager will identify those who are disengaged and explore the reasons behind the disconnect to determine if coaching or other interventions are appropriate. In some cases, people will respond favorably to opportunities to reconnect and rekindle their interest and enthusiasm for their jobs. Most people search for ways to make their lives and work meaningful and only disengage when they feel hopeless. Those who are actively disengaged may thrive on the negativity and refuse to become part of any solution, preferring to perpetuate problems. If they repeatedly refuse opportunities to engage again, terminating their employment should be seriously considered in order to avoid further damage to staff morale and organizational progress.
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Decoding NEWness in the NOW NOW is the only creative space. Every human is blessed with potential and his talent hidden deep inside him can be brought out with the philosophy of NEWness in the NOW. is a cared-for propensity and capacity with which one wants to learn and express a specific thing with strong emotions. Its outcome is an aptitude or skill that is caused by compulsive thoughts to create originality in the physical space.Talent is an exception that has the ability to create more exceptions in the surrounding environment. It explains how a human being can grow beyond competency and take moment-bymoment control of his life. Surrogate HR explains that the contribution of an organizational human comes from his realization of the extraordinary potential he possesses as a professional 'being'. 'I want to use my talent and execute my college dreams in my existing professional life? How would I be able to do that?' One of my students caught me in facebook chat late at night. I have been reading a book on decoding human behavior. 'Do you find electricity inside the four walls of a room? You just experience it when the switch is put on and the lamp glows', I write back. 'Yes Sir, but what if I don't find the switch in the darkness? How can I put it on even then?' unexpectedly he threw a bombshell. I was silent for a moment. I wanted to give him a strong message: talent is a small torch that can find the switch in the darkness of a room. Business is shifting its focus away from investment on tangibles and concentrates more on intangibles like building relationships and brand image.Human collaboration has started playing an unprecedented role in developing mutual trust, experience and knowledge that becomes the primary means of value. Attention is more on idea innovation; it is a mandatory quality for a leader to nurture human talent over building process efficiency and resource optimization. In the emerging scenario, human is born in planet earth to perform different kind of roles. He is innovative; he always looks for the structure behind it.She is a narrator; she expresses his talent to realize the beauty of nature.He is an actor; he lends hands for the good of masses. She is a motivator; she likes to draw unknown from people for noble causes. Others are execution-oriented and they know how to execute command of a leader who inspires masses to materialize his own dreams. Every aspect of life moves on a predetermined roadmap. An individual chooses a personality which includes talent, style, habits based on a specific plan. As a result, completely different lessons are learnt every day by human as he is becoming more aware about himself. Relationships work as guidance to contribute to a journey that human is sensing in the Newness of his environment. The realization of NOW is a prerequisite for the execution. Talent exists naturally within, skill is obtained through practices and repetitions, and knowledge is leaned from experiences and history. Everyone in the organization tries to explain and elaborate other two but does not clarify his observations on talent. What is the source of talent? Why has talent been forcibly made into a scarce commodity when it is inside?' No know speaks the truth.Real essence can be designed when we place value filters in all the nodal points in the decision making process. Everyone is born with talents; it just requires faculty of observation with a stimuli from the outer world. Faculty of absorption
Talent
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CHINMOY SARKAR Author, AXELL
contributes in the processing as value is formed in the Whole. Faculty of dissemination spreads the value to all parts. We can receive anything in the NOW. Our understanding of past has very little influence on the present which enjoys abundant power of creation.With the click of a button, life changes forever and it happily moves in the direction of a state we desire. Our grief and unhappiness is the handiwork of mind which always works with earlier experiences. Mind has no strength to feel the NEWness in the NOW.Thus we cannot receive unknown with the help of mind. NOW is the time to know what this moment truly is. A lot has been imagined in the past about NOW but it is getting revealed at the present moment. NOW carries NEWness beyond previous understanding of it.Let's accept it with great attention as it has the potential to offer anything one desires in material world.Do not destroy NOW in the hope of future as future reveals itself only in the beauty of NOW.Tick every NOW with a good feeling as it can only bring good things into life. That is why we are here. NOW can never be manipulated or postponed. If it is gone, it moves out forever. One moment of extraordinary opportunity is lost in life without participation. NOW manifests itself naturally without the inference of past or future. NOW is evergreen like never before. NOW is felt only in the emotion of NOW. An organization has to be very careful in nurturing talent in its working space as talent is basically a neutral energy and its nature of use gives it a dominating power. Like electricity, talent is governed by a principle or a truth that serves as its foundation for conduct. Few measures of safety can significantly reduce the risk of creative injury. One has to be very sure of the source of supply for its harmless use. Talent is a natural gift; every person has talent in him as abilities with superior qualities. One can devote himself to a cause so that the world around him distinguishes him as someone with an advantage that others do not have.Talent of human is respected as valued resource for any organization desiring to make a difference in its existence. Human capital is an idiom that organizations use to justify the bigger sense of talented human. In the organizational space, conventional HR is continuously exploring talent in human with a 'pertinent' question, 'does he have it?' Approaching the space with half-glass-empty outlook creates a journey path based on scarcity and the object of exploration turns out to be 'selection through exceptions'.We all have been playing a game:an employee creates a fire with his talent; his Boss douses it with his extinguisher. 'Do not take risk and gamble, use your talent to do the job I want you to do'. But, pattern is visible changing in the shapeless mesh; talent utilization space is coming out of pure chaos. A half-glass full perspective provides a tool to search the space with the spirit of inclusion. Leaders are admiring core value of human,Talent. NOW is the only creative space.Every human is blessed with potential and his talent hidden deep inside him can be brought out with the philosophy of NEWness in the NOW. BM
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATIONS
Revised Gujarat Minimum Wages
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GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATIONS
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GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATIONS
MINIMUM WAGES IN UTTAR PRADESH In Rupees Per Day
w.e.f April 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012 Scheduled Employment
Category of Workers
Basic
V.D.A.
Minimum Wages All 58 Scheduled Employment
Total Minimum Wages
Unskilled
100
74.14
174.14
Semi Skilled
114
84.81
198.51
Skilled
126.54
93.81
220.35
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Labour Problems & Solutions
Anil Kaushik, Management Expert -HR & IR
Solutions provided here are in context to narrated facts & not in general.
Q. There has been lot of confusion over payment of gratuity to be paid to an employee if he does not complete five years of service but complete more than 240 days in the fifth year. Many companies have started paying gratuity to such employees also. What is your expert opinion on this issue? Ans. Section 4 of Payment of Gratuity Act talks of entitlement of gratuity only on completion of five years of continuous service. Any employee would be entitled for gratuity only if he fulfills two conditions : (1) He should have completed five years of service. (2) That service should be continuous. Completed year of service has been defined in section 2(b) and continuous service is defined in section 2(A). The expression "completed year of service" means a continuous service for one year. Continuous service for one year means 240 days of service in a period of twelve calendar months. Orrisa High Court in the case of Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri 1992 LLR 737 has so interpreted. Section 4(2) puts emphasis that gratuity shall be payable after employee has rendered continuous service for "not less than five years". The intention of the law is very clear. First employee has to complete five year of service which means twelve calendar months of each year. Then in each year he should complete 240 days of continuous working to establish that he has completed continuous service of five years. There are two conflicting judgments on the point. Madras High Court in the case of Mettur Beardsell Ltd. case 1998 LLR 1072 has held that gratuity will be payable to the employee who has completed more than 240 days in the last fifth year but Andhra Pradesh High Court in the case of P. Raghuvulu & sons 1985 (1) LLN 612 has held that gratuity will not be payable to an employee who has not completed five years of service. As far as judicial pronouncements are concerned there is no case law of supreme Court on the point but as far as intention of the Act is concerned, employee has to first complete five years of service which means twelve calendar months of employment of each year and then it should be seen, whether he has completed 240 days in a year or not. The purpose of this additional interpretation is to help employee that even if he has completed five years of service (twelve calendar months) but not worked whole the year, he will be deemed to have worked so, if worked for 240 days in a period of twelve calendar months. Q. When an employee committs misconduct and disciplinary proceedings are initiated against him, normally it is seen that always employee is awarded the punishment of termination from 44
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service whereas courts many times interfere with the punishment and subsitute with lesser punishment. Is there any guideline as to what should be the quantum of punishment in case of misconduct. Please throw some light on this point? Ans. The gravity of the misconduct in a particular situation is a deciding factor for awarding punishment. Concept of misconduct differs from person to person and place to place. You have to see what your standing orders or service rules say about this. Disciplinary authority has to acertain what punishment is to be given to the employee found guilty of misconduct. If a security guard responsible for taking care of the property of the organisation, found sleeping during night, dismissal for this misconduct is justified. Where as the same punishment for the same misconduct by any other person at different place on different timings may not be viewed proportionate by the court. Refusal to drive the vehicle by driver is a serious misconduct for which dismissal is justified, but if the same misconduct is committed by some other person, dismissal may not hold good. Misappropriation of money by Bus conductor and bank employee has been viewed serious misconduct and dismissal has been held to be valid by many High courts and even Supreme Court repeatedly. Q. We have very strong suspicion on an employeee who is instrumental and active in passing very relevant information and documents to an outside person, which ultimately has caused damage to the reputation of the company. Management is pressing hard to take disciplinary action against such employee. I want your opinion whether we can initiate action against the employee merely on the basis of suspicion? Ans. No! Suspicion can not be basis of any disciplinary action. It has to be relegated. You may be having many information which is compelling you to pin point against the employee but all these informations should be linked and converted into susbtantial evidence before initiating action. Conducting enquiry and dismissing an employee on the basis on the suspicion will not be held valid by the Court. The charge has to be specific and certain. The charges on mere information with out any rationale and reasonable basis in the happening or non happening of an incident, Such charge is certainly bound to be declared as ambiguous and invalid. Q. We require following clarification: 1) Under section 59(2) of the Factories Act, do we need to pay overtime wages on all allowances and components of wage? 2) Does monthly incentive which is variable pay paid on a separate date to be
Labour Problems & Solutions included while paying overtime wages? 3) Allowances like washing allowance need to be included while calculating overtime wages. 4) Can the Management take a stand that overtime wages are paid on basic and DA and it has been the practice in almost all industries across the region and union cannot raise any demand involving financial liability on the company during the period of existing settlement? (Wage settlement is valid up to 2013) Ans. As facts mentioned by you in your mail, my opinion on your questions is as under : 1. Section 59 of the Factories Act 1948 has clear cut guidelines regarding calculation of extra wages of over time wherein it is mentioned that workman will be entitled to over time wages @ rate of twice of his ordinary rate of wages.(Recent Ruiting) Ordinary rate of wages means - basic wages + such allowances as the workers is for the time being entitled to. I have delibrately excluded the component of cash equivalent of the advantage accuring through the concesional sale of food grain and other articles to workers, because I presume that you may not be giving this facility. So you are under legal obligation to pay over time on all components of wages excluding bonus. However if you have provided house to workers, the value (rent) of the house is not to be taken into account while calculating rate of over time. Madras High Court in the case of Heavy Vehicles Factory Employees’ Union Case 2012 LLR 358 has also held in the same direction. 2. I am not aware of your incentive scheme so it would be difficult to comment upon whether it is a part of wage or not, but if the incentive paid to workmen is a term of employment through settlement, award or appointment and ESI is paid on such incentive, it has all probalities to be included as a part of wages component for the purpose of over time. It makes no difference whether it is paid seprately or on the same date alongwith wages. Nature of payment is to be considered. 3. Since washing allowance is a part of wage component, over time is also to be calculated on this amount. 4. Any practice adopted by nearby industries in the region can not have overriding effect on the legal position. 5. It is advised that you should make it a negotiation point and try to hold the practice which being carried out since long. Alternatively you can stop over time and in place engage other labour to get the work done. Q. We have been giving branded shoes to workers for last many years. Now recently factory inspector visited the factory and advised us to provide safety shoes to workers. He declined to accept that shoes already given can be replaced by safety shoes. We apprehend that if we replace the existing branded shoes by safety shoes, workers may object and management will not give one more pair of safety shoes alongwith existing branded shoes. How can we go ahead with the implementaion of factory inspector advice?
Anil Kaushik, Management Expert -HR & IR
Ans. If providing branded shoes to workers is a part of settlement, management is under legal obligation to comply with. Providing branded shoes and industrial safety shoes are two different things. If management want to implement safety shoe, you have to provide in addtion to branded shoes but if the language of settlement says that workers will be provided safety shoes or shoes for the safety purpose, management is entitled to stop providing branded shoes and in place can provide industrial safety shoes. On all these issues you will face opposition from workers but have to negotiate to achieve your objective and implement the advice of factory inspector. You can also project this advice as a compulsion to implement the law. Q. Our Hotel maintains two sets of employees – (i) Employees who get Basic, D.A, Uniform allowance, PF, HRA and all other benefits listed in the employment policy & (ii) other employees who get Basic, D.A., Uniform allowance and PF. We even have support staff also (like – sweepers, security guards) who are through contractor, who runs his office in Nepal. The problem faced is that we are being pressurized by the regional PF office to deduct PF for these employees or to show the PF Account no. of the Nepal contractor. The contractor on the other hand says that he is not bound by the Indian Law to have a PF account number for his office as his office is situated at Nepal. Our drawback is we don’t have good contractors in our town and thus we are highly dependent on this Nepali contractor. Pl. advise ? Ans. Since your establishment is situated in Indian territory, all labour laws applicable in the country are applicable in respect of your establishment including Provident Fund. As a principal employer you are primarily liable to ensure the compliance of PF Act in respect of the workmen employed either by you directly or indirectly through any contractor. Workers of the contractor whose office is in Nepal cannot escape from the liability of PF, since workers deputed by him are working in Indian territory. If the contractor fails to comply with the provisions of PF Act, you as a principal employer are liable for the compliance inrespect of contractor workers working in your hotel.There is no problem if you have two sets of employees having different wage structure provided it is based on job skills. If you pay all allowances to casuals, it will be presumed that they are working on the permanent nature of job where as casuals are meant only for the job which is essentially of casual nature. Casuals are normally paid fixed amount per day. To avoid any future complications, I advise you to pay lum-sum per day rate of wages to casuals and other set of employee who are engaged on permanent nature of job should get all allowances. Please refer to your state minimum wages notification also before deciding the rate of wage of casuals because in any case it should not be less than prscribed minimum wages in respect of the category to which casual worker belong. Hope your doubts are clear. You are welcome to clarify further if any other doubts are still there. BM
Readers are invited to ask for Solutions of their Labour Problems through e-mail - bmalwar@yahoo.com Business Manager
May 2012
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From The Court Room
Latest Judgments
Recent Important
Judgments Back Wages Labour Court Award of reinstatement with full back wages modified to 50% back wages by High Court. Award of reinstatement and full back wages of Labour Court upheld by learned Single Judge with modification directing from payment of full back wages to none on ground that onus was on workman to prove that he was unemployed and he could not prove it. In the case, neither burden nor shifting onus fell on workman in absence of pleading to the contrary by management with regard to employment, gainful or otherwise. Discretion exercised by Labour Court in granting full back wages. Normally should not have been tinkered. It may be just to award 50% back wages ex debito justatiae. Court did not subscribe to the view propounded by the learned single judge on the issue of onus. In the present case neither the burden nor shifting onus fell on the workman in the absence of pleading to the contrary by the Management with regard to employment, gainful or otherwise. The discretion exercised by the Labour Court in granting full back wages normally should not have been tinkered with especially when the issue of gainful employment was not pressed or proved before the Labour Court by the management. Ranbir Singh vs. Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal-Cum-Labour Court, Faridabad and another. 2012 (132) FLR 1099 (P&H H.C.)
BOCW Act Writ petition to quash recovery proceedings under the Act was held not maintainable in view of alternative remedy of appeal under sec.11 thereof. A recovery proceeding was initiated against the company for recovering certain amounts for labour cess and construction costs. The said 46
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proceeding was resisted by the company by approaching the High Court through a writ petition. The Co. challenged the imposition of cess on various grounds. However, the High Court referred to the provisions of section 11 of the Act which provides for an appeal by an employer aggrieved by an order of assessment made under sec. 5 or by an order imposing penalty made under sec. 9. The High Court held that the Co. has an alternative remedy of filing an appeal before the appellate authority for challenging the assessment of cess as well as imposition of penalty. In view of the availability of alternative remedy to the Co., the High Court declined to grant any relief to the petitioner and dismissed the petition. Tanks and Tube-Wells Class A Category vs. Collector & Ors. LLJ I 2012 P.50 (All. H.C.)
Bonus Workers are not entitled to maximum (20%) bonus for those years in which there was no allocable surplus. Tribunal while granting bonus for the years 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, failed to note that there was no allocable surplus. Workers are not entitled to maximum bonus for those years. It is an erroneous award; (ii) Impugned Award does not show that Tribunal kept in mind (a) the parameters under which bonus calculation has to be made; (b) procedure to calculate bonus as directed in S.11 r/w S.15 of the Bonus Act; (iii) In the matters, Tribunal erred in denying relief to workers, without going into the calculation in terms of schedule II to the Payments of Bonus Act; (iv) Calculation of bonus requires certain amount of technical skill and one must know the auditing procedure ; (v) Impugned Award dt. 17.03.2006 stands set aside - All the three disputes are remitted back to Industrial Tribunal for fresh disposal according to law. Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Kudineer Vadigal Variyam Chennai & Anr. vs. Tamil Nadu Kudineer Vadigal variyam Oozhiyar Central organisation rep. by its General Secretary & Ors. 2012 I CLR 782 (Mad. H.C.)
From The Court Room
Contract labour Contract workers doing same and similar works as of regular employees will be entitled to same and similar wages, holidays, hours of work and other conditions. Similarities in the nature of work are to be determined by Labour Comissioner. Workmen employed through contractor performing same and similar nature of work which was being done by the regular employees of the petitioner will be entitled to same rates of wages, holidays hours of work and other conditions of the work as were being enjoyed by regular workers of the petitioner/principal employer as per provisions of Rule 25 (2) (v) (a) of the Rules. Similarities in nature of work are to be determined by Government i.e. concerned chief Labour Commissioner and not by the High Court Under writ jurisdiction as per provisions of the Rule 25 (2) (v) (b) of the Rules. Airport Authority of India rep. by its Airport Director, Coimbatore Airport, Coimbatore vs. Authority under rule 25 (2)(v)(a) & (b) of Contract Labour (R&A) Central Rules, 1971 & Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), South Zone, Bangalore, III Main, III Cross, II phase, Tumkur Road, Bangalore-22 and Others. 2012 LLR 399 (Mad. H.C.)
Court Powers Ex-parte Award passed by the Labour Court/Industrial Tribunal is liable to be set aside in case the appropriate authority of the employee is not impleaded before the Labour Court by the workman. Bureau Chief, Sahara India T.V. Network vs. Deep Narayan Singh. 2012 LLR 397 (M.P. H.C.) It is well within the juridiction of the tribunal to record evidence on all issues simultaneously and this cannot be left to be decided by any party. Employer has no right to complaint at the stage of writ that issue of validity of the enquiry was not treated as preliminary. Compensation of Rs.3.25 lakhs, in lieu of reinstatement and 40% back-wages, would be proper relief. Framing of issue and recording of evidence in a particular matter has to be decide by the Labour Court and either of the parties cannot insist for trial of certain issues as preliminary issues. Mahatta and Company and Anr. vs. Munna lal Shukla and Anr. 2012 LLR 405 (Del. H.C.) Granting compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to employee instead of reinstatement and back wages on account of illegal termination without following retrenchment procedure held neither excessive nor unreasonable. M.D. Industries vs. Government of NCT of Delhi and another. 2012(132)FLR 1030 (Del. H.C.)
Latest Judgments
Disciplinary Proceedings In the absence of procedural lapse in E.O. findings, high court need not to interfere with the dismissal order. In the absence of any procedural lapse in the findings of Enquiry Officer, which are based on evidence and the charges have been established, there is no room for this Court to interfere with the impugned order of dismissal; (ii) This is not the Court of Appeal over and above the Enquiry officer, Disciplinary Authority and the Appellate/ Revisional Authority. This court cannot reappreciate the evidence to reach a conclusion different than the one recorded by the Enquiry Officer, merely because another view is possible; (iii) There is no violation of principles of natural justice or of any statutory rules, warranting a conclusion that appellant has not been treated fairly. Baljit Singh vs. State of Haryana and others. 2012 I CLR 569 (P&H H.C.) Acquittal in the criminal case is no ground to challenge order of removal from service. It is not open for the delinquent to remain absent from enquiry, once his request to stay the same in view of pending criminal proceeding case was declined; (ii) Acquittal in the criminal case is no ground to challenge impugned order of his removal from service; (iii) Petitioner was negligent at the time of the theft in question, it was a grave misconduct on his part; (iv) Having not participated in the domestic inquiry, no grievance can be made now that there is no direct evidence against him for the said misconduct; (v) Impugned inquiry and order of removal call for no interference by this Court. Dhanjibhai Premabhai Rathva vs. Chief Security Commissioner, Western Rly., Mumbai and Ors. 2012 I CLR 614 (Guj. H.C.) In case of disagreement with the findings of the enquiry officer, disciplinary authority is under obligation to communicate the reasons of disagreement to the employee and provide him an opportunity of hearing before inflicting punishment. Any such punishment with completing these formalties would be illegal. When disciplinary authority does not agree with the findings of the Enquiry Officer, the reasons of disagreement are required to be given and communicated to the delinquent employee through a show cause notice to be issued by the disciplinary authority providing an opportunity to submit his defence, if any, otherwise the punishment order would not be tenable. Non giving of reasons in respect of points of difference by the Disciplinary Authority with the findings of the Enquiry officer shall be violative of principles of natural justice and would render the order of punishment illegal. Hari Shankar Srivastava vs. Commissioner, Food & civil Supplies & 3 Ors. 2012 LLR 343 (All. H.C.) Business Manager
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From The Court Room For a misconduct, even if the employee is acquitted in criminal trial, management has the inherent right to initiate disciplinary proceedings. Scope of criminal case is different to that of departmental proceedings as the both have conceptually different objectives, yardsticks and standard of proof. Acquittal from criminal case does not create any bar against departmental proceedings. Keshab Chandra Saha vs. United Commercial Bank and Ors. 2012 LLR 362 (Cal. H.C.) If action is to be taken against the employee for producing fake school leaving certificate, management must prove it by summoning the concerned school record and author of the certificate. Without this, document cannot be prove. Failure to prove a document like a School Leaving Certificate by summoning its author, relevant records of the court to prove its genuineness and by not getting verified the document through appropriate modes, would mean that the document has not been proved and action taken on the basis of such document would be illegal. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation vs. H.Haitha S/o Punju Pujari. 2012 LLR 378 (Kar. H.C.) Disciplinary proceedings would not be vitiated merely for non-supply of enquiry report to the dismissed employee. Enquiry proceedings cannot be continued against an employee after his superannuation unless the service rules so provide. Sudhakar Govind Rave vs. Maharashtra Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd. 2012 (132) FLR 756 (Bom. H.C.) When the Disciplinary Authority differs from the findings of the Enquiry Officer without giving sufficient reasons, the order imposing any punishment upon the delinquent is not sustainable. In case the Disciplinary authority passes any order imposing any punishment upon the delinquent without considering explanation(s) submitted by the appellant, that order is not sustainable. Mere production of documents alone is not sufficient, if not proved as required under the manner know to law, the same would not be legally acceptable in evidence. Punishment imposed mere on the basis of confession is bad in law. Confessional statement, if not proved, in the manner known to law, the same would not be legally acceptable in evidence. M.Mohandas vs. State Bank of India, rep by Dy. General Manager & another. 2012 (1) LLN 589 (Mad. H.C.) Initiation of disciplinary proceedings would arise only when the employee denies the charges as levied against her. Fraud, as committed, vitiates everything and also the beneficiary of the fraud cannot claim any equitable relief to retain the benefit he/she received due to said fraud. T. Chittemma (Smt.) vs. Tirumala Tirupathi 48
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Latest Judgments Devasthanams, Tirupathi rep. by its Executive Officer. 2012-I CLR 609 (A.P. H.C.)
Dismissal Dismissal justified for unauthorised absence of twenty months. Plea of workman of medical treatment during the period with out any record and proof will not hold good. In the absence of cogent documentary evidence, the plea of taking medical treatment by the workman for a continuous period of about 20 months to justify the unauthorised absence is not tenable. The punishment of dismissal from service on account of long unauthorised absence jeopardising the functioning of a Public Road Transport Corporation, by its driver, does not call for interference by the court. R. Krishoji Rao vs. Chief Traffic Manager, Central Offices, Bangalore. 2012 LLR 368 (Kar. H.C.)
Employees’ Compensation Act It is well-settled that the rights of the parties are governed by the law as it existed on the date of the accident. Compensation has to be calculated as per the provision of law as it exists on the date of accident-cause of action arises on the date when the accident takes place; (ii) Compensation was payable to claimant as per the provisions of the Act, as it existed on 1.06.1999-the date of accident and not at the rate of Rs. 4,000/- as per the amendment of the Act, which came into force on 08.12.2000. Executive Engineer, H.P.P.W.D., B & R Division, Nalagarh, H.P. and Anr. vs. Premu, S/o. Shri Budh Ram, H.P. 2012 I CLR 636 (H.P. H.C.) Insurer of a tractor cannot be held liable to pay compensation for injury caused to workman by a machine which was an independent one, though power for it was drawn from the tractor. The injured was working as a daily wager for doing agriculture work. The owner of tractor was insured with the appellant insurance company. According to injured while he was working in the field of tractor owner and carrying out the work of feeding paddy from hay. In the said process he was using his left leg to feed the hey which got caught in the crusher resulting in crush injuries to his left leg. Injured therefore filed a claim petition seeking compensation from tractor owner as well as insurance company. The claim petition was allowed and compensation together with interest thereon was awarded to injured. Feeling aggrieved thereby the insurance company challenged the award by filing an appeal in High Court. The main contention raised by the appellant was that the crusher which was used for removing paddy from hay was not insured with it and as such any injury which entitles the claimant to claim compensation cannot be indemnified by the insurance company.
From The Court Room The High Court held that admittedly the accident in question took place while injured was discharging his duty as an agriculture labourer under tractor owner. The High Court however pointed out that what was insured with the appellant was the tractor and not the trasher which was used to separate hay and paddy. It was not an attachment to the tractor through power to it was drawn from the tractor. The fact that the accident had taken place due to operation of trasher would not amount to accident caused in the usage of tractor. In this view of the matter the appeal was allowed and the award was set aside. Branch Manager, National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs Ramalinge Gowda & Anr. LLJ (I) 2012 P 228 (Kar. H.C.) Workman Jumped from the third floor and committed suicide. Such death be not will “accident”. The deceased was working with the respondent company as an operator. While he was in the premises of his employer in the course of his employment, he fell down from the third floor of the building where he was working, resulting in grievous injuries which ultimately led to his death. His widow and children filed a claim petition for compensation on the ground that the accident had taken place due to failure on the part of the employer in providing sufficient protection in the place of work in its factory. The respondent company resisted the claim on the ground that it was not a case of accident but suicide, as the deceased had no reason to go to the third floor. The Commissioner on appreciation of the evidence accepted the employer’s contention and held that the appellant was not entitled to any compensation since it was not a case of accident in the course of employment. Feeling aggrieved thereby the appellant filed an appeal in the High Court. The High Court pointed out that the evidence available on record clearly disclosed that the deceased was assinged work in PPI dept. in the factory. But he had gone to administrative block situated 300 mtrs. away from his place of work. The evidence further showed that the deceased was standing near the widow on the third floor in a depressed mood and he was repeatedly asking for the time and had not moved from the said place for more than 15-20 minutes. In this view of the matter the High Court held that the Commissioner was right in dismissing the claim petition. Suvarna &Ors. vs. Factory Manager, Motor Industries Co. Ltd. LLJ (I) 2012 P. 254 (Kar. H.C.) Rickshaw driver dying of chest pain while waiting for passengers. It was held the death occurred by accident arising out of and in the course of employment. The deceased was in the employment as rickshaw driver. On the relevant date he was driving the rickshaw from morning to evening and at about 09:30 p.m. while he was waiting for passengers in front of a factory, he developed chest pain and became unconscious. He was therefore shifted to a nursing home where he was declared
Latest Judgments dead. His widow (petitioner) filed a claim petition against the Rickshaw Owner and the insurance company. The appellant's claim was however resisted by both of them who denied that the death deceased died natural death. The Commissioner under the Employees' Compensation Act dismissed the claim petition. Feeling aggrieved thereby the deceased dependant came in appeal before the High Court. The High Court however allowed the appeal observing that the deceased was in the employment of Rickshaw Owner and that he was driving the rickshaw since morning. It was further observed that due to continuous work, the deceased underwent lot of stress which might have aggravated ischemic heart disease from which he was suffering. Therefore his death was apparently due to an accident in the course of employment. The appeal was accordingly allowed to the extent of Rs.2,86,692/- with future interest at 7.5% per annum. Faimada Begum vs. Akram Pasha & Anr. LLJ (I) 2012 P. 243 (A.P. H.C.) Comissioner Award of compensation based on material record will be legal and proper. Employer plea of employee doing the milk business at the time of accident and not working as conductor will have no bearing. Commissioner under the Employees' Compensation Act has rightly awarded accident compensation to the dependents and plea of the employer that the deceased, while meeting with accident during the course of employment, was not a conductor but was doing the business of milk, would not be ten able. Bharti Axa General Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Smt. Mumina and Others. 2012 LLR 345 (All. H.C.) An accident for payment of compensation will be presumed to have arisen out of and during the course of employment when the truck driver was found brutally murdered in the cabin of truck. M/s National Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Smt. Sheela Rani and Another. 2012 LLR 381(P & H H.C.) Death of cleaner due to bullet injuries in a clash between Nexalite group and police will not amount accident arising out of and in the course of employment. Allowing compensation by the Compensation Commissioner to the dependents of cleaner not proper when his death has resulted by receiving bullet injuries in clash between naxalite group and police battalion. Branch Manager, United India Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Anjinappa @ Anjaneya and another. 2012 LLR 384 (Kar. H.C.) Death due to injury caused while shifting the motor cycle from ground to varandah of the school while on duty will amount to accident arising out of and in the course of employment. Compensation rightly awarded. When the Security Guard of the School was asked to shift the motor cycle from ground of the School to the verandah and while doing so, he Business Manager
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sustained injuries resulting into his death hence such accident would be construed out of and during the course of employment, Accordingly, the Compensation Commissioner has rightly awarded the compensation and the High Court will not interfere. Spring Fields Public School, Gobindpura vs, Commissioner under Workmen's Compensation Act & Ors. 2012 LLR 412 (P&H H.C.) Death due to fall from third floor of the Hotel will not amount to accident, since it was a case of soicide and there was no casual link between the employment and the death. In the absence of casual link between the employment and accidental death, the claim under Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 is not maintainable. The claim under the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 is not maintainable is case the accident has not taken place during the course of employment and arisen out of employment. Shobhagyavati (Smt.) and Ors. vs. Management, Jaipur Mineral Development Syndicate Pvt. Ltd. and Anr. 2012 LLR 415 (Raj. H.C.) A supervisor supervising loaders and unloaders from goods train meeting with an accident at 10 pm while going to home will be treated accident arising out of and during the course of his employment in the absence of fixed duty timings. M/s N.S. & CO. vs. Rajwant Kaur and Others. 2012 (132) FLR 641 (P&H H.C.) Interest on delayed payment of compensation by the insurer can be recovered from the employer. United India Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Krishna and Other. 2012 (132) FLR 683 (P&H H.C.)
Enquiry When employee stated that he was absent because of sickness and he sent all information of sickness to management and management accepted receipt of medical certificate, converting this statement as admission of misconduct of unauthorised absent and clsoing the enquiry will make it invalid. E.O. had to find out the element of willfulness in absence. Enquiry proceedings can be vitiated if the Enquiry officer has closed the enquiry on the basis of admission of some misconduct by the delinquent employee without perusal of the documents submitted by the parties and recording of findings if actually the delinquent employee was absent will-fully or due to justified reasons. Leave application has either to be rejected or accepted and communicated to the employee, otherwise that application will be treated as accepted. Management of D.T.C. vs. Dhan Singh. 2012 LLR 339 (Del H.C.) When the employee is illetrate, inquiry has to be conducted in the local language,known 50
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and understood by employee. Not doing so and conducting inquiry in english language would render it invalid. When delinquent is illiterate knowing local language Malyalam and the Enquiry Officer not knowing the local language recorded the proceedings in English, non-supply of list of Management witnesses, documents and enquiry report to the workman would be against the principles of natural justice sufficient to vitiate the enquiry proceedings. There is no rule that a claim made by a party in a lis can only be proved by his evidence. Admissions during the proceedings before the court stand on a higher footing than evidentiary admissions and are by far the best roof of the facts admitted. Venture Estate vs. Thenmala Plantation Labour Union. 2012 LLR 353(Ker. H.C.) When the deliquent officer is pitted against legally trained person, he should be allowed to defend himself through a legal practitioner. Enquiry invalid for violation of principles of natural justice. When the deliquent officer is pitted against legally trained person, he should be allowed to defend himself through a legal practitioner. Denial of such a request would amount to denial of a reasonable opportunity to the delinquent to defend himself, which is an essence of the principles of natural justice. Inquiry Officer was a legal practitioner in the High Court. Management did not appoint presenting officer for this inquiry. question were put to the delinquent by inquiry officer himself; (ii) the inquiry was conducted without permitting the petitioner to have assistance of legal practitioner and no opportunity was given to petitioner to defend himself properly amounts to total violation of principles of natural justice; (iii) the disciplinary authority proceeded mechanically in passing order of punishment, ignoring all documentary evidence presented before him by the delinquent in reply to show cause notice; (v) Imputations in the form of suggestion and / or finding regarding quantum of punishment by the inquiry officer, is contrary to statutory rule and hence liable to be quashed and set aside. Arun Kumar Hazra vs. State of West Bengal & Ors. 2012 I CLR 691 (Cal. H.C.)
E.S.I Granting or denying exemption under section 87 of the ESI Act from the coverage of the Act is open to judicial review under Article 226 of Constitution of India. Sections 75(1) (g) of the ESI Act does not speak of a dispute with the government which only has the plenary power to grant exemption. A detailed order is warranted to be passed under section 87 of the Act while granting or disallowing exemption by analyzing the benefits
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under ESI Act and provided by the employer showing item-wise comparison since the interest of a large section of workers, the actual beneficiaries, is involved. Denial of exemption under section 87 of the Act cannot be challenged before the employees' Insurance Court under section 75 of the Act.
Retrenchment compensation is appropriate when the circumstances so demand to settle an industrial dispute. T. Selvan vs. Labour Court, Coimbatore and Anr. 2012-I CLR 786 (Mad. H.C.)
Industry
Kancor Ingredients Ltd., vs. E.S.I. Corporation. 2012 LLR 351(Ker. H.C.) Accident compensation when received from ESIC cannot be received further under Motor Vehicles Act.
Water technology centre for eastern region, Bhubaneswar is “Industry� under the I.D. Act.
United India Insurance Co. Ltd. vs. Som Wati and Others. 2012 LLR 383 (P & H H.C.)
Whether Water Technology Centre for eastern Region, Bhubaneswar (WTCER in short), an Unit under the petitioner, is an "industry"? The Court answered this querry in the affirmative, in view of total activities of the petitioner and of said unit.
Factories Act Over time is payable on basic wages plus all such allowances to which a worker is entitled for the time being. As per provisions of section 59 (2) of the Factories Act, 1948, the overtime allowance includes the basic wages plus such allowances to which a worker is entitled for the time being. Heavy Vehicles Factory Employees' Union Rep. by its General Secretary & Anr. vs. Union of India rep. by its Secretary to Government, ministry of Defence & Ors. 2012 LLR 358 (Mad. H.C.) ; 2012 (132) FLR 1052
Gratuity Payment of gratuity Act do not make any distinction between the casual, temporary or NMR workers. Payment of gratuity Act do not make any distinction between the casual, temporary or NMR workers; (ii) Appellate Authority has the power to correct error committed by Controlling Authority, in considering length of service put up by the workman. No error committed by Appellate Authority by passing impugned order. Madurantakkam Co-op. Sugar Mills Ltd., rep. by its Special Officer, Padalam vs. Joint Commissioner of Labour (Appellate Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 & Ors. 2012 I CLR 779 (Mad. H.C.) In view of amendment of 2009 in the Payment of Gratuity Act, a teacher is not only an 'employee' but also entitled to gratuity with retrospective effect since 03.04.1997. President/Secretary, Vidarbha Youth Welfare Institution (Society), Amravati vs. Pradipkumar S/o Ramchandrarao Lambhate & 2 Ors. 2012 LLR 417 (Bom. H.C.)
Industrial Disputes Act When there is no documentary evidence to substantiate the alleged misconduct, denial of employment to workmen, on restarting the unit, is not justified.
Indian Council of Agriculture and Research vs. P.O., CGIT-cum-Labour Court, BBSR & Ors. 2012 I CLR 660 (Orissa H.C.) Department 'Industry'.
of
irrigation
held
to
be
The workman was appointed on the post of Amin on Muster roll by the competent authority of the state of Bihar on 11.01.1973 and he was continued on the post till 09.03.1975. Thereafter suddenly with effect from 03.10.1975, without complying the mandate of section 25-F of the Act, he was retrenched from service. Admittedly the workman remained in service for more than one year and completed the minimum requisite days of work of 240 days. The workman therefore raised an industrial dispute regarding the termination of his service and the same dispute was referred to the Labour Court for adjudication. The Labour Court passed an award in favour of the workman and directed his reinstatement with all back wages. Feeling aggrieved thereby the state approached the High Court by means of a writ petition contending inter alia that irrigation department was not an 'industry'. The High Court referred to the Full bench decision in Vijay Kumar Bharati vs. State of Bihar (1983) PLJR 667 wherein the Full Bench categorically held that department of irrigation shall be deemed to be 'industry' within the meaning of Act. It was observed that there is systematic activity organized by the State Govt. and its employees for satisfying the need of irrigation, supply of electricity and protection from flood. For supplying most of the aforesaid facilities, people have to pay charges. As such it has to be said that such activities for satisfying human needs are analogous to trade the business. Therefore there is no escape from the conclusion that the department for irrigation shall be deemed to be an industry within the meaning of the Act. The High Court observed that the petitioner's's trade was blowing not and cold by challenging in this petition award of Labour Court on the ground that its irrigation dept. was not an industry even though it had made reference of the dispute raised by the respondent to labour court for adjudication. Hence the petition was disposed of. State Of Bihar vs. Gajadhar Singh (Amin). LLJ (I) 2012 P. 75 (Pat. H.C.) Business Manager
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Interim Relief Amount paid in accordance with section 17-B is not recoverable of refundable even in case where award for reinstatement of workman is set aside. The workman was working in the applicant's establishment. Her services were terminated and therefore she raised an industrial dispute before the competent authority. The said dispute was referred to the Labour Court with passed an award in favour of the workman and directed the employer to reinstate her with full back wages and consequential benefits Challenging the said award, the employer filed a writ petition in the High Court which was admitted and stay was granted to the effect that the employer should comply with the mandate of section 17-B of the Act. In compliance to the stay order, last wages drawn in accordance to the requirement of section 17-B was granted to the workman. Ultimately the writ petition was heard and it was held that the employer’s establishment was not an industry and therefore industrial Disputes Act was not applicable. Consequently the award was set aside and the petition was allowed. Thereafter the employer filed an application in the High Court for a direction for refund of the amount deposited by virtue of the payment made in compliance to section 17-B of the Act. The High Court observed that the purpose of incorporating section 17-B is to relieve to certain extent the hardship which is caused to a workman due to delay caused in implementation of an award during the pendency of the proceeding when the award is challenged. The payment which is made to the workman during the pendency of such proceeding is in nature of subsistence allowance and this is not refundable or recoverable from the workman even if the award is set aside by the High Court of the Supreme Court. In this view of the matter, High Court dismissed the application. Project Director, District Literacy Samiti vs. Ms. Mamta Shrivastave & Anr. LLJ (I) 2012 P. 212 (M.P. H.C.) When Management challenges the order of the Labour Court regarding dismissal of its application for approval under section 33 (2) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act, the workman would be entitled to the benefits of full wages under section 17-B of the Act. Decision of Labour Court or Industrial Tribunal relating to non-approval of the order of dismissal under section 33(2) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act amounts to determination of a question of industrial dispute. When application filed by Management under section 33 (2) (b) of the Industrial Disputes Act before the Labour Court or Industrial tribunal has been dismissed, the workman stand reinstated. Anvarkhan Ghafurkhan Pathan vs. Transport Manager. 2012 LLR 433 (Guj. H.C.) 52
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Leave No employer can arbitrarily reject the leave application of an employee. The rejection of leave application is required to be informed to the workman through proper modes. To avail leave is a valuable right of the employees. Non-submission of leave records before the Labour Court with out good reasons raises an inference against the Management. Dismissal invalid for miscounduct of unauthorised which was not proved. Management of M/s D.T.C vs. Ramesh Chander. 2012 LLR 389 (Del. H.C.)
Maternity Benefit Act Female employee employed in plantation estate being covered by the minimum wages act also will be entitled to maternity benefit under the act. When the female employee, as employed in the Plantation estate is covered by the Minimum Wages Act and also there are more than ten employees, such employees will be entitled to maternity benefits under the Maternity Benefit Act. While interpreting the provisions of beneficial piece of legislation like Maternity Benefit Act, the Court should adopt the beneficial rule of construction which will enable female employee not only to subsist but also to make up her dissipated energy, nurse her child, preserve her efficiency and maintain the level of her previous efficiency and output. Mgt. Glem Brook Estate, Salem vs. Plantation Officer, Plantation Office & Anr. 2012 LLR 420 (Mad. H.C.)
Provident Fund Since EPF act has no prescribed proforma for reviw application against the order under Section 7-A before the authority, a simple formal application narrating the facts would be sufficient and authority has to consider it. In the absence of a prescribed proforma for moving an application for review before the EPF Authority, the formal application on a plain paper would sufficent the purpose. When nonappearance before the EPF Authority by an employer is due to justifiable reasons, an opportunity should be granted to him to place his defence by setting aside ex-parte order passed by the EPF Authority by considering the application for review filed by the employer.
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Behl Hospital vs. Asstt. Provident Fund Commissioner and Ors. 2012 LLR 337 (Del H.C.) PF contribution is to be deposited within fifteen days from the close of the month. In addition, five days grace period is given for the purpose of remittance. In case of default, interest has to be paid as per para 38 of the scheme. If the provident fund contributions are not remitted within the prescribed period with 5 days grace period, interest will start to run as per provisions in paragraph 38 of the Scheme under the Act. The provident fund contributions are to be remitted by the employer within 15 days from the close of the month for which salary is paid after deduction of contribution. Jewel Homes (P) Ltd. vs. Employees' Provident Fund Organisation. 2012 LLR 347 (Ker. H.C.) Damages levied under section 14B of the Act would not be reduced if financial difficulties are not explained with sufficient reasons before the concerned Authority or Tribunal. Steel Tubes Of India Ltd., Dewas vs. Asst. Provident Fund Commissioner (C), Indore. 2012 LLR 357 (M.P. H.C.) Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal has definite duty to perform in law and has to apply its mind in appeal instead of putting strength of approval without considering the legal implications. Vyankatesh Shetkari Vinkari Sahakari Soot Girani Ltd. vs. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and Recovery Officer and Others. 2012 LLR 379 (Bom. H.C.)
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The power to exclude any establishment from the benefit of the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme under the act is available to the Central Government only and that too by notification in the official gazette either prospectively or retrospectively. Regional Provident Commissioner has no such power to exclude any establishment from the benefit of the Scheme under the act. Diwakaran vs. State of Kerala. 2012 LLR 394 (Ker. H.C.) Once the name of the employee appears on the attendance register, employment relationship is proved which cannot be denied further through affidavit. When the name of an employe is there on the attendance register, such an employee cannot deny his employment with the support of an affidavit. Para 26B of the Scheme is applicable only when the dispute is between the employer and employee and not otherwise. Mani Hospital & Maternity Hospital Home vs. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner. 2012 LLR 404 (Del. H.C.) When fifteen persons were found as regular employees and five person were casual labour doing massonary work, such persons cannot be included for the purpose of coverage of the establishment under the Act. Casual or temporary labours, if not connected with the normal or regular work of the establishment, cannot be counted for establishing total number of employees for covering the establishment under the Act. Sarda Gum & Chemicals vs. Union of India & Ors. 2012 LLR 416 (Raj. H.C.)
Sanctioning authority for grant or rejection of exemption application under section 17 is the Govt. and not the A.P.F.C. He has no powers to reject any such application.
A.P.F.C. while passing an order under section 7A acts as adjudicating authority and he cannot file reputation against the order of appelate tribunal setting aside his order.
Any order, if not passed by the Appropriate Authority, is not sustainable.
While an Authority passes an order after issuing notice (s), as provided under the provisions of section 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds & Misc. Provisions Act, to the parties concerned and conducting an enquiry by giving them an opportunity of being heard, that Authority is vested with the power of a civil court and his such a function is deemed to be a judicial proceedings under the Indian panel code. When a subordinate authority in the hierarchy does not adhere to or abide by the decision of a superior authority, its action cannot be justified as it would be an unwholesome state in areas of quasi judicial functions and destructive of one of the basic principles in the administration of justice.
Under the Employees' Provident Funds & miscllenious Provisions Act, the Appropriate Authority is the Government and not the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner. Birla Sun Life Insurance Co. Ltd. and Anr. vs. The Regional Provident Fund CommissionerI (Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India) and Ors. 2012 LLR 392 (Bom. H.C.) Section 16(1) of the Employees' Provident Funds & MP Act is not applicable to any establishment registered under the Cooperative Societies Act employing less than fiftypersons and working without the aid of power.
Assistant Provident Fund Commissioner vs. West Coast Petroleum Agency. 2012 LLR 427 (Ker. H.C.) Business Manager
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Withdrawal of earlier notification prospectively clearly means that the establishment would be required to pay damages only with effect from the date of withdrawal of earlier notifications and the P.F. Authorities have abused their power by issuing notice upon the petitioner asking to pay damages ignoring the import of earlier two notifications. Kanchrapara, Harnett English Medium School vs. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and Others. 2012 (132) FLR 656 (Cal. H.C.) When detailed written objections, raised by the petitioner/employer, have not been considered either by the EPF authority, orders passed by both the authorities are liable to be quashed. Non-consideration of the objections raised by the party before quasi-judicial authority would be construed as non-application of mind by that authority and such order passed will be nonspeaking order and unsustainable. EPF Authority, while conducting proceedings under section 7A of the EPF & Misc. Provisions Act, has discretion to levy of quantum of damages in view of the word used 'may' instead of 'shall' in paragraph 32A of the Scheme under the Act considering the facts and circumstances of the case. Kiron B. Dhingra vs. Union of India Through the Branch Secretariat & Anr. 2012 LLR 445 (Bom. H.C.) When one unit manufacturing beverages by taking raw material from second unit being both independant establishment, first unit was a contractor but not an agent of second unit, the first unit will be deemed as an independant establishment under Section 2A of the EPF Act eligible for exemption. Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Tirunelveli vs. Prabha Bevrages Private Ltd., and another. 2012(132) FLR 1047 (Mad. H.C.)
Punishment Dismissal from service as a punishment for instigating other employees to stop work or to join strike and extending threat in filthy language to senior can be modified by the Labour Court into compulsory retirement keeping in view the long service of the employee by exercising its powers under section 11A of the Industrial Disputes Act. B.M. Channappa vs. Management of Warner Lambert Inida Pvt. Ltd. 2012 LLR 374 (Kar. H.C.)
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chocolates in her bag, Labour Court erred in not ex-onerating the employee from the charge of theft. Reinstatement to an employee alleged to be guilty of theft is the appropriate relief when the charge pertaining to theft has the charge pertaining to theft has not been established by the establishment in leading evidence that there was a shortage of chocolates from the store and also when it is on the record that the employe herself stated that she was having chocolates in her bag. Sudesh Yadav vs. Oberoi Flight Service. 2012 LLR 385 (Del. H.C.)
Reference Once reference is declined by the Conciliation officer/appropriate authority, its review without fresh ground (s) is bad in law. Jurisdiction to send the dispute to the Labour Court vests in the Appropriate Government only and not with the Conciliation officer. In case the workman does not resume duty at the place of transfer despite repeated reminders and opportunities, it would be abandonment on the part of the workman. Non-hearing of the Management before allowing reference in review is against the principles of natural justice. M/s Oriental Carbon and Chemicals Ltd. vs. Presiding Officer, Labour court, Gurgaon and Others. 2012 LLR 445 (P&H H.C.)
Reinstatement Reinstatement has been rightly awarded by the Labour Court to a workman who has worked for more than 240 days in preceding 12 months of illegal termination of his service. Engineer-in-Chief, Path Nirman Bibhag, Bihar and Anr. vs. Surya Narayan Paswan S/o Mahabir Paswan, Begusarai & Anr. 2012-I CLR 580 (Pat. H.C.) Reinstatement with 50% back wages has been rightly awarded by the Labour Court to the Workman by rejecting the plea of the employer. Hence the Division Bench in special appeal upheld the Award by Learned Single Judge. Anil Steel & Industries Ltd., Kanakpura vs. Judge, Labour Court No. 2, Jaipur & Anr. 2012 -I CLR 593 (Raj. H.C.)
For proving the misconduct of theft, mere recovery is not enough to punish an employee. Dismissal invalid of employee found with 11 chocolates in her bag since shortage of the stock was not proved by the management.
Reinstatement proper of a casual labour worked more than 240 days, terminated orally with out complying retrenchment procedure. Compensation order of 35 thousand set aside.
Merely because 11 chocolates have been found in the bag of an employee by the Security Guard whereas it is on the record that she was having
Reinstatement, instead of compensation, will be appropriate relief to a workman who has worked for more than 240 days but on oral
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termination, he has neither been paid retrenchment compensation nor notice or pay in lieu thereof besides that while declining the relief of reinstatement, the Industrial Tribunal has not given supporting reasons. Debnath Chakraborty vs. Union of India & Ors. 2012 LLR 425 (Cal. H.C.) ; 2012 I CLR 670 Reinstatement proper when workman dismissed without approval under Section 33 of I.D. Act. Transfer of a workman has been rightly upheld by the Industrial Tribunal and High Court will not interfere. Reinstatement to a workman has been rightly awarded by the Industrial tribunal when the employer failed to seek approval for dismissal during pendency of the dispute. Workmen, Rep. by General Secretary, Bharathiya Employees' Mazdoor Sangh, Chennai And Another vs. Presiding Officer, Industrial Tribunal, Chennai and Another. 2012 (132) FLR 630 (Mad. H.C.) On account of delay in raising Industrial Dispute, the relief of reinstatement sought by the workman cannot be denied. Payment of lump-sum compensation is not an effective substitute for non employment. Challenge to award of reinstatement with back wages, which was upheld by learned Single Judge - Held that (i) Findings of facts reached by Tribunal on appreciation of evidence, cannot be reopened while exercising writ juridiction; (ii) In the exercise of the writ juridiction the court cannot reappreciate the evidence and substitute its opinion for the one of the Tribunal; (iii) On account of delay in raising dispute, relief cannot be denied to the workman; (iv) in the instant case granting of lump sum compensation, cannot be an effective substitute, for his non-employment - No reason to interfere with impugned award. Payment of lump sum amount as compensation to workman, in lieu of reinstatement to which he is legitimately entitled to, is not an effective substitute for non-employment. A writ Court has no jurisdiction to substitute it own opinion for that of the Tribunal, taken on appreciation of evidence on record, even if it is satisfied that it could have been otherwise. Arrack Bottling Unit, rep by its Chairman, IML Depot, Wyra, Khammman District, and Anr vs. Hon'ble Labour Court-Cum-Industrial Tribunal, Warangal, Rep. by its Presiding Officer, and Anr. 2012 I CLR 596 (A.P. H.C.)
Resignation Employer-employee relations end on expiry of lien on the job. After end of employer-employee relationship, an employee is not entitled to seek any relief under the Industrial Disputes Act.
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G. Sudhkar Rao vs. Bharat Heavy Plate & Vessels Ltd. & Another. 2012 LLN-I 436 (A.P. H.C.) Acceptance of resignation without communicating to employee will not be valid and employee is entitled to withdraw the resignation. Even though the petitioner (employer) has stated that the Executive Committee has accepted the resignation dated 03.05.2006 by the employee with effect from 21.07.2006 but the same was not communicated to the employee who has withdrawn the resignation on 05.06.2006 hence the acceptance of resignation, without communicating to the employee, is not valid under the law. If an employee volunteers to resign from employment by submitting a letter of resignation extending period of 30 days, it does not tentamount to relieving him of duty immediately after expiry of 30 days so as to sever the relationship of employer and employee. Abandonment on the part of an employee cannot be presumed if he tenders the resignation by giving 30 days' notice and it is not fair since for absence, the employer can initiate disciplinary action. Reinstatement with 50% back wages has been rightly awarded by the Labour Court by discarding that there has been no valid communication about acceptance of his resignation by the employer. Managing Director, Campco Ltd. Mangalore vs. B. Vishnu Murthy. 2012 LLR 370 (Kar. H.C.)
Retrenchment When the workman was dismissed due to habitual absenteeism after holding proper enquiry, the question of compliance of Section 25F of I.D. Act does not arise. When services of an employee are terminated on the ground of his habitual absence after conducting domestic enquiry, which is recorded as fair and proper by the Labour Court only on the ground of non-compliance of section 25F of the Industrial Disputes Act, is not sustainable and liable to be quashed. P.C. Manjhi vs. Management of Bokaro Steel Plant. 2012 (1) LLN 542 (Jhar. H.C.)
Settlement Settlement between Union & Management will be binding upon members of the union. Settlement arrived at in the course of conciliation proceedings under the Act between fringe union and the management. Revision of pay scales, allowances and other fringe benefits availed. Only grievance is weightage of service. Business Manager
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From The Court Room
Latest Judgments
Settlement is binding upon the members of the union and is not open to challenge the portion of the settlement i.e. particular clause in the settlement under writ jurisdiction. Platform of Bel Ex-Employees, Bangalore and others vs. Chairman & Managing Director, M/s Bharat Electronics Ltd., Bangalore and others. 2012 (132) FLR 1009 (Kar. H.C.)
Sexual Harassment Calling female co-employee prostitute before others and abusing in filthy language will amount to sexual harassment. Employee dismissed on the basis of the Ex- parte enquiry. Reinstatement with 30% back-wages order is liable to set-aside. Labour court should deal such matters with sensivity. Compensation of one lakh is appropriate. When the workman has been dismissed from service after holding of domestic enquiry though ex-parte for the charges of sexual harassment, if the Labour Court does not deal with the case sensitively, the Award passed by the Labour Court granting reinstatement with back wages is not sustainable. It would be a healthy practice to get recorded the fresh evidence in the main case instead of reading the same evidence as already recorded while deciding the issue of enquiry. T. Abdul Wahid & Co., rep. by it Partner, Mr. M. Mohmood Akhtar vs. Labour Court, Vellore and Anr. 2012 LLR 422 (Mad. H.C.)
Transfer Once transfer order is accepted by the employee he cannot challenge the same. Transfer order passed by the Management to meet the administrative exigencies is not to be interfered by the court unless the same is mala fide and vindictive on the face of it. Once an employee has accepted his transfer from one place to another without raising any objection on the basis of terms and conditions of his appointment or as per Certified standing orders or model standing orders, as the case may be, he is not entitled to challenge his transfer by subsequent transfer order on the ground that the same is not as per Model Standing Orders. Afsar Khan S/o A.H. Khan vs. Managing director, S.T. Cooperative Bank Ltd., and Anr. 2012 LLR 341(Bom. H.C.)
Unauthorized Absence If the absence from duty is the result of compelling circumstances under which it was not possible to report or perform duty, such absence cannot be held to be wilful. Unauthorized absence from duty without application or prior permission may amount to unauthorized absence. Such absence not always wiful such as a result of compelling circumstances. Discplinary Authority required to prove that absence is wiful. In absence of such finding absence will not amount to misconduct. Krushnakant B. Parmar vs. Union of India and another. 2012 (132) FLR 1023 (S.C.) ; 2012 I CLR 753
U.P. Industrial Peace (timely payment of wages) Act Eye Hospital is not an Industrial Eastablishment under U.P. Industrial Peace (Timely Payment of Wages) Act. An eye Hospital cannot be said to be a factory, workshop or any other establishment. Hence provisions of Act are not applicable. Order directing recovery of amount of bonus under the Act is without jurisdiction and is hereby quashed. In view the definition clause of industrial establishment and section 3, it is clear that the provisions of Act of 1978 are only applicable in the case of industrial establishment and a Eye Hospital can, by no stretch of imagination, be said to be a factory, workshop or any other establishment in which any production is undertaken so as to be covered under the definition of industrial establishment. Since the petitioner is not an industrial establishment provisions of the Act of 1978 are not applicable and as such order dated 04.01.2012 passed by Additional Labour Commissioner directing recovery of the amount of bonus under the provisions of the Act of 1978 is without jurisdiction and is hereby quashed. Dr. Jawahar Lal Rohatagi Smarak Netra Chikitslaya, Kanpur vs. State of U.P. and Others. 2012 (132) FLR 1059 (All. H.C.)
V.R.S. After having received VRS dues in full and final besides provident found dues without any protest, raising of any claim later on by the employee is not tenable. Moinuddin vs. Guest Keen William Ltd. & Others. 2012 (1) LLN 498 (Cal. H.C.)
Courtsey - Labour Law Reporter,FLR, CLR & APS Labour Digest
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H.L. KUMAR Advocate-Supreme Court, Editor, Labour Law Reporter
Bid Farewell to Contract Labour System It is quite but natural that the contract labour while performing functions would have to act in terms of the directions of the officers of the company who would mark their attendance and allot work to them and also in respect of all matters incidental to their employment. However, such supervision and control is secondary control, the primary control resting with the contractor.
Two
hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson said that 'Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also and keep with the times.' Those not changing are thrown to the fringe. The storm of liberalisation that is sweeping across the world, including our country, has compelled our industries to change the employment law. It is seen that in India the enactments follow the changes that have already taken place on the ground. For instance, the contractual appointment for a fixed period has now become a reality and it has got the acceptability of norm but earlier it was not so. Trade Unions have been frowning upon the contract labour system since their bargaining power with the employers has weekend. The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Steel Authority of India Ltd. and Ors. vs. National Union Water Front Workers and Ors., 2001 LLR 961 has held that the contract labour system can be continued as long as there is no such notification prohibiting it in a particular industry; yet it is an admitted fact that there are rare notifications prohibiting the contract labour system since the Labour Authorities know that it will result into large scale unemployment and the employers would not be able to compete in view of the globalisation and liberalisation where the costfactor is very relevant. If the work is carried on
The law that has changed from 'status' to 'contract' it must now change from Principal to principal.
through the regular workers, it cannot be economical and timely as it is possible through the contract labour system. Recently, there has been a judgment of Supreme Court in Bhilwara Dugdh Utpadak Sehkari S. Ltd. vs. Vinod Kumar Sharma dead by LRs & Ors., 2011 LLR 1079 wherein it is observed that the new technique of subterfuge has been adopted by some employers in recent years in order to deny the rights of the workmen under various labour statutes by showing that the concerned workmen are not their employees but are the employees/workmen of a contractor, or that they are merely daily-wagers or short term or casual employees when, in fact, they are doing the work of regular employees as such the Supreme Court countenance such practice any more. The Supreme Court has further held in the same judgment that globalisation/liberalisation in the name of growth cannot be at the human cost of exploitation of workers. We respectfully beg to differ from this observation of the Supreme Court as it appears to be more guided by the ideological weight than that by the realities prevailing on the ground. Labour Law Reporter has actually been the precursor of the philosophy of the contract labour system but now it wants to take it further along the line of the imminent changes for the employment generation and industrial peace. The need of the hour is to move from ContractorPrincipal controversy to Principal to Principal era. This will help achieve the goal of the prohibition of the Contract Labour (R&A) Act. Business Manager
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Bid Farewell to Contract Labour System
It is a matter of historical record that till 2001, the Employees' Provident Fund Authorities would not allot Code Number to the contractor. Similarly, the ESI Authorities were also reluctant in issuing the independent Code Number to them. But now there is no difficulty and the contractors are having their own separate establishments. It is a heartening fact that it has also found support by the judicial pronouncement. In Group 4 Securitas Guarding Ltd. & Anr. vs. Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal & Ors., 2012 LLR 22, it has been held that where the contractor, being employer providing services of manpower, is having control over the personnel being supplied by him to the establishments by way of issuance of appointment letters, making payment of wages and other allowances, taking disciplinary actions, effecting their placement, transfer and termination of services, the relationship between such a contractor and the establishment where the manpower is supplied by him would be of principal to principal and not that of employer-contractor.
The need of the hour is to move from Contractor-Principal controversy to Principal to Principal era. This will help achieve the goal of the prohibition of the Contract Labour (R&A) Act. In 'Group 4 Securities Guarding Ltd. and another vs. Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal and others' the High Court of Delhi has said that both the petitioners namely M/s. Group 4 Securitas Guarding Ltd. (M/s. GSGL for short) and M/s. Whirlpool of India Ltd. ('M/s. Whirlpool' for short) had challenged the order passed against them by them namely, Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Faridabad (Haryana) under Section 7A of the Employees Provident Fund & M.P. Act, 1952 (for short the Act). In both the cases, the Commissioner directed the petitioners to pay additional provident fund contributions on the amount shown as HRA, conveyance allowance and washing allowance. The Tribunal vide the impugned order dismissed the appeals of the petitioners holding that M/s. GSGL was supplying security personnel to one M/s. Havels (I) Ltd. as a contractor and that all these personnel were the employees of the establishment where they were deputed. It was held that since the employees were employed by M/s. GSGL for the principal employer, hence, the principal employer/establishment where the personnel were deputed was liable to pay PF contributions of those employees. Based on this premise, the EPF Tribunal dismissed the appeals of the petitioners. The petitioners assailed the impugned order of the Tribunal. 58
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The High Court observed that there is no dispute to the fact that M/s GSGL is an independent legal entity and operates all over the world having workforce of large number of employees and engaged in the business of providing 'security guard services' to various establishments all over India. M/s. Whirlpool Ltd. and M/s. Havels (I) Ltd. are some of its clients. It is also not in dispute that M/s. GSGL is independently covered under the provisions of EPF Act by virtue of notification under section 1(3) (b) of the Act which extends provisions of the said Act to establishments engaged in the business of providing 'security guard services' and that it has been granted a code number by the authority under the Act. It is also not in dispute that Provident Fund department has been accepting contributions from M/s. GSGL treating it as the 'employer' in respect of the said employees. The commissioner initiated proceedings under Section 7A of the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act against the petitioners on the ground that M/s GSGL had allegedly violated compliance under the said Act by not depositing PF contributions on the additional component of HRA, conveyance allowance and washing allowance as paid by it to its employees who were employed by its clients namely M/s Whirlpool and M/s Havels (I) Ltd. The first question that arises for consideration in the present writ petition is as to whether the security guards/personnel provided by M/s GSGL to its clients M/s. Whirlpool and others would be its employees or that these personnel would be the employees of the establishment to whom they are provided. In other words the question would be as to whether it is M/s GSGL who is the employer of those personnel or it would be the clients of M/s GSGL to whom such personnel are provided. The other question would be as to whether there was any additional liability payable in respect of those personnel by their employer. Petitioners contention was that M/s GSGL alone being the employer in relation to those personnel who were employed by it in various establishments. There is no dispute that M/s GSGL is engaged in the activities of providing 'security guard services' which is recognized under the Act as primary activity and not as an agency. It is not disputed that M/s GSGL is an establishment with large number of employees and is directly covered by the provisions of the Act. It has been allotted a Provident Fund code number for direct compliance of the provisions of the Act. Such code number is allotted to the employers and not to the contractors. M/s GSGL clearly falls within the meaning of Section 2(e) of the said Act in respect of its personnel deputed at various establishments and factories. It is stated that M/s GSGL was submitting statutory returns and contributions in respect of such employees to the competent authority directly as employer. Section 2(e) (ii) of the Act defines employer in relation of
Bid Farewell to Contract Labour System
any other establishments, the person who, or the authority which, has the ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment. It could not be said that the clients like M/s. Whirlpool and others have any control over the affairs of M/s GSGL. On the other hand M/s GSGL has control over its employees and the establishment. The said securities personnel/guards not only received their appointment letters, but also wages and allowances from M/s GSGL after signing the registers maintained by M/s GSGL and were governed by the terms and conditions of their services. The clients of M/s GSGL have no control in the fixation of terms and conditions of the service of security guards. The security personnel are deputed by M/s GSGL in the establishment of their clients not permanently, but, on rotation and transfer basis depending upon the requirement and exigency of the services related to its clients. The clients have no disciplinary control over those personnel. Also in some cases M/s GSGL maintains control rooms in the client's establishment to supervise and regulate the working of the security guards/personnel deputed there and that besides security guards M/s GSGL deputes other staff at their clients establishment who take care and regulate the working of the security personnel. It was not controverted. From all these it could be seen that the personnel provided by GSGL to its clients including M/s Whirlpool and others were not provided as a contractor, but on principal to principal basis. In Indian Oil & Steel Company vs. State of West Bengal, 2011 LLR 771, the Calcutta High Court has
held that "insofar as supervision and control exercised by the officers of the company on the added respondents are concerned, it is quite but natural that the contract labour while performing functions would have to act in terms of the directions of the officers of the company who would mark their attendance and allot work to them and also in respect of all matters incidental to their employment. However, such supervision and control is secondary control, the primary control resting with the contractor". In view of the fast changing scenario it is pertinent to quote Justice P.N. Bhagwati who said in his judgment of National Textile Workers Union some more than thirty years ago. "We cannot allow the dead hand of the post to stifle the growth of the living present. Law cannot stand still; it must change with the changing social concepts and values. If the bark that protects the tree fails to grow and expand along with the tree, it will either choke the tree or if it is a living tree, it will shed that bark and grow a new living bark for itself. Similarly, if the law fails to respond to the needs of changing society, then either it will stifle the growth of the society and choke its progress or if the society is vigorous enough, it will cast way the law which stands in the way of its growth. Law must therefore constantly be on the move adapting itself to the fast changing society and not lag behind. It must shake off the inhibiting legacy of its colonial past and assume a dynamic role in the process of social transformation." The law that has changed from 'status' to 'contract' it must now change from Principal to principal. BM
Government Notifications
E.S.I. (Central) Amendment Rules, 2012 Enhancement of Minimum amount for the Dependant Benefit as Rs. 1,200/NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 8th February, 2012
G.S.R. 73(E).- Whereas the draft of certain rules further to amend the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, were published as required by sub-section (1) of Section 95 of the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of 1948), vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, number G.S.R. 849(E), dated the 30th November, 2011, in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section(i), dated the 30th November, 2011, inviting objections and suggestions from all person likely to be affected thereby before the expiry of the period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Gazette of India in which the said notification was published, were made available to the public; And whereas, the copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 30th November, 2011; And whereas no objection or suggestion has been received from any person in this regard; Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 95 of the Employees' Sate Insurance Act, 1948 (34 of 1948), the Central Government, after consultation with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, namely :1. (1) These rules may be called the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Amendment Rules, 2012. (2) They shall come into force with effect from the 1st day of March 2012. 2. In the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, in rule 58, after clause (ii) of sub-rule (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely :"Provided that the total amount of the periodical monthly payment of dependants' benefit payable to all eligible dependants of a deceased employee, shall be not less than one thousand two hundred rupees." [F.No. S-38012/03/2010-SS-I] RAVI MATHUR, Addl. Secy. Business Manager
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In many places of Chennai, it is a normal sight to see Metro water Supply and Sewage Board people in undergarments, jumping into the drainage to clear the water ways. With no protective mask or suit, they unwillingly but happily jump as if into the Ganges.
S.Chandrasekar Chennai
Wage and Sewage:
The plight of manual cleaners
Waste
management and sewage treatment have been challenging over the years. In the pre-independence era, manual scavengers were involved in flushing the human waste from the back yard with broom and bucket cleaners, a well planned sewage circuit was missing in the country excepting few princely states. In fact, a specific community was engaged in these menial jobs which others would shy away in reluctance. With advent of cleaning machines for underground sewer, many corporations across the country do employ manual sewage cleaners to desilt and clear the choked drain pipes. Gandhiji himself was against the practice of human scavenging, and though a few years ago a national ban was imposed widely, the withdrawal of manual force has not been complete. The cleaners say that in some areas where Jet Rodding machines are not involved in suction of filth and silt, there is immense need that the cleaners had to get down to depth in clearing the septic tanks and water ways.
In Chennai, I recently met a cleaner who had woes to complain. He has been in service since 2000 on contract. With a hope of getting the service regularized, he has patiently spent 10 years as daily wager on Rs.130/- per day. He is deprived of the medical coverage, insurance and statutory benefits. He further said that the wage was Rs.100/- five years ago. I understand that the future of these sewage cleaners is almost bleak. With an average of 4000/per month inclusive of tips, it is a question as to how such contract workers lead a family. His fortunate counterparts whose services were confirmed seem to draw 14000/ pm. The huge gap existing in the salary range is a disaster. This article does not intend to probe but resound a bugle on untouched issues in Business Manager. How good is the regulation of wages for them? In many places of Chennai, it is a normal sight to see Metro water Supply and Sewage Board people in undergarments, jumping into the drainage to clear the water ways. With no protective mask or suit, they unwillingly but happily jump as if into the Ganges. With threat to health and occupational hazards, they are deprived of several rights. It appears the compensation given to death by accident in manhole service, reaches the contractors and the family of victim gets only funeral expense. The de-silted sludge is not cleared but left behind on roads in heaps near the manholes to naturally dry and fly away.
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Though its officials blame on faulty design and poor construction of sewerage lines in the city as reasons for frequent sewer blocks, why should contract workers fall prey to it? Sources say absence of sufficient storm water drains in the city also results in accumulation of silt in the sewer lines. It is a rough figure that 250 men are employed on contract across the city in the daredevil sort of plunging job. When there is a dire need that manual cleaners have to be engaged in spite of the mechanized cleaning, it is the duty of the government to seriously look into the pathetic case that is unsolved. If all the cleaners are made permanent and proper benefits given, I am sure from the HR, Finance and Environmental perspective that it would sure be a laudable effort. In the internet and newspaper, we come across many clippings on petitions for hearing from affected workers, sensational news about ban on inhuman act of manual cleaning of sewers, slogans, placards and processions that voice out support. All is well and the plight continues as a perennial problem. These are the areas where even if much of good governance is done through corporation to upkeep city welfare, equal importance has to be shown to the manual contract cleaners who are susceptible to health vulnerability and premature death. Only if 'contract cleaning' is abolished and appointment is done directly under the Board, a remedy to their problems would be a mirage. When banking personnel, LPG tanker drivers, and trade unions can go on nation-wide strike, why not these exploited and deprived voiceless people? They morally fear just for a humane reason that the country would stink with choked drains and overflowing filth.
HR News
DGM (HR) of Ramco Cement killed by suspended worker A deputy general manager of a private cement manufacturing company in Virudhunagar was hacked to death by a suspended employee, on 12th April night. The official's wife, who attempted to protect her husband, also sustained cut injuries when the man attacked with a sickle. The incident sparked unrest in the company as the officials and employees demanded immediate arrest of the culprit. The body of G Raja Rajeswaran (56) was later handed over to his relatives after post-mortem. "We have formed special teams to arrest the suspect. He might not have fled far. We will nab him soon," said a police officer. Police said that the suspect C Ganesan (52), a native of Tirunelveli, now residing in Pandalkudi in Virudhunagar, was working in Ramco Cements for the past 15 years. He was also a former leader of the DMK trade union wing in the company. "He was a crusher operator in the company. Though Ganesan was scheduled to commence operation of the crusher machine by 7.30am everyday, he used to often come late. He was warned by senior officials in the
company several times for lack of punctuality. Few days back, another employee, who was entrusted with the job of mixing certain chemicals and powders, told Ganesan that his work was also getting delayed due to the former's irregularity. The employee then lodged a complaint with Raja Rajeswaran," the police officer said. On April 12, Rajeswaran summoned Ganesan and after reprimanding him suspended him. An infuriated Ganesan left the company immediately. Later, he went to the residential quarters of Rajeswaran, located in the vicinity of the company around 8.30pm. Rajeswaran was having his supper when Ganesan went there and picked up a quarrel. "Rajesarwan scolded Ganesan for visiting the house during the late hours and asked him to meet him in the office the next day. But Ganesan had already planned to murder him and had taken a sickle along with him. He pulled out the sickle and started attacking Rajeswaran indiscriminately leaving him in a pool of blood," police said.
Ford faced Dharna, as 9 sacked for integrity issue
Over 450 employees of Ford India were detained late on 27th March night for staging a demonstration at the factory site near Chennai against the management's action of sacking 9 employees for violating code of integrity. The workers are demanding reinstatement of the sacked employees. With the workers adamant in their demand for reinstatement of their sacked colleagues, the
issue has now moved to the state's labour department. While the employees allege that their colleagues were sacked arbitrarily by the management, the management says action was taken after proper investigations. "Nine employees at Ford's Chennai operation violated the company's code of integrity and their employment was terminated after due enquiry process on March 27. As on March 28, there has been no disruption to our production and we continue to retain normal production levels. We have prioritised and redistributed our work force to ensure that there is no delay or disruption to our production with shifts running on schedule", Management said. K Selvaraj, the treasurer of unrecognised Ford India Employees Union and a member of internal workers committee, admitted that some of the workers presented bills to claim certain (medical) allowance to avoid tax burden, which the management found to be forged after scrutiny. Business Manager
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BOOK LEARNING Being a CEO, the author thus gathered over the year in observing thousands of employees and then choosing the better from the lot is what he now want to share with everyone through this book. While it's really the duty of the employee to exhibit to the management how they stand out compared to others, at the same time, the employers could also share the learnings from this book so that each of their employee stands out. And if so many stand out, well, that's the winning and competitive advantage for the company.
Get Noticed Get Promoted
This book is a must read for the upwardly mobile young executives wanting to climb the corporate ladder quickly and for organization, it helps transforming their young executives into smart executives.
Skills & Strategies By Ajay Wahi Publisher : Ajay Wahi (B-2/30, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110 029) Ed. 2011 Price : INR. 399, US$ 15.00 E-mail : ajaywahi@rediffmail.com
and the
award for
BEST SME
of the year goes to... By Ajay Wahi Publisher : Ajay Wahi (B-2/30, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi-110 029) Ed. 2010 Price : INR. 900, US$ 99 E-mail : monicawahi@managementtreasures.com or ajaywahi@rediffmail.com
Commentaries on
Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 of the year goes to... By V.K. Kharbanda & Vipul Kharbanda Publisher : Law Publishing House, 39, Sheo Charan Lal Road, Allahabad-211 003 Price : 1300/www.iphindia.com 62
Business Manager
May 2012
Ajay Wahi style of making things simpler through visuals make the book interesting. This book very well collates & explains the high performing behaviours to help employees get in the league and acquire the right traits for becoming successful and for taking the Organization to the next levels. It guides the employees on the norms of HOW, WHEN, WHAT & WHERE and the visibility one has to ensure in the work place. It teaches the wrong and right things what employees should adopt. So, want to Get Noticed and Promoted ? Read this book.
"And the award for best SME of the year goes to" - is a blueprint for CEOs of small and medium enterprises (SMRs) to create success for their companies. Learnings are presented in simple language, with numerous examples to show how they can be practically implemented. Ajay Wahi has created great success at each SME he led as CEO. The thought that his experience would benefit others has spurred him to write this book. Every one can profit from the book because the author's experiences focus on people, productivity, processes, culture, retention, energy, motivation and soon, which apply to all types of SMEs. The objective of the book is very simple: SME for your SME (Success Made Easy for your SME) !! just 10 hours of reading has the power to give you 20 years of aggressive growth! A win-Win situation for the SME, the CEO, and the employees! Working in a SME involves working long hours so the author thoughts it would be best to write in bite-sized pieces using simple language, with each idea presented over just a few pages. Further, the CEO can read as much as time permits, restart the next day, not worry about losing track, since each small chapter is a separate learning. A relevant guide for all small entrepreneurs.
Employees' State Insurance Act is one of the most popular and important social welfare legislation of the country enacted to provide health cover to lakhs of employees working in organised sector. The Law has been amended and repeatedly interpreted by Govt. and Courts during last few years. This is why the editors felt the need to completely overhaul this book and update it with the latest case laws upto and including cases till 2011 as well as the Employees' State Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2010. This book also contains the Employees' State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950, the ESI (General) Regulations, 1950, incorporating the 2011 amendments viz. Notifications dated March 23, 2011, March 30, 2011 and June 15, 2011. The Public Liability Insurance Act and Rules are also included making this book very useful to Employers, Employees, Trade Unions, Lawyers, Industrial Tribunals, Labour Courts and all those concerned with Labour Laws. We hope this book will serve its patrons well.
NCR HR Men Sensed Knowledge Update Priority Dr.
MD, spoke on importance of health & happiness at workplace which directly affect the productivity and growth of the organization. He suggested many inovative and Dr. Roop Singh lighter methods to keep stress away and make employees happy while working. He carried out some tests to check the impact of smile and experiment to test positive aspect.
Anil Kaushik Addressing HR people
HR professionals holding key responsibility in manufacturing sector of NCR gathered in Bhiwadi (Raj.) on 6th April sensing priority of knowledge update. The informal assembly of HR managers (MYSELF) aiming to give formal shape of professional body in comming future, was addressed by Anil Kaushik, Corporate Advisor, HR & IR, Dr. Roop Singh & Dr. Shivani as experts of their domain. While throwing light on what would be the HR of the future and what competencies would be required for an influential HR person, Kaushik highlighted the evolving role of HR from compliance administrator to partnerships with stakeholders, from transactional change to transformational change, from slow, reactive, fragmented to fast, proactive and integrated.
Roop
Singh,
Dr. Shivani, MPT, discussed about stimulating and conditioning of brain by neurobics. She took up many activities by involving participants to make feel how small tips can work wonders in keeping brain active and positive. She exhibited the impact of positive and negative thinking by many group activities. She also gave a demo how brain functions and gets effected by finger exercises.
Surbhi Arora, Sr, Manager HR Uttam Strips welcoming Dr. Shivani.
Piyush Gupta, VP-HR of Amtek, Nirmal Chaudhary, AGM of Honda Motor Corp. and G.K. Dixit, Head HR of Sri Ram Pistons also shared their HR practices.
would create learning environment and knowledge update. He also reinforced the value of various HR skills and practices, one need to implement and established in the organization for overall development and growth of employees through regular training, team building and employee engagement.
Mahesh Agarwal, Head HR, BKT, Chopanki, extended vote of thanks to experts speakers and gathering by expressing hope that such regular meets
Surender Singh, Regional Manager, HR, Amtek, conducted the meet, welcomed all earlier and kept the programme in line. BM
According to him, HR cannot operate in solo, it must soil its hands and it has to be credible, risk taking and has to work in collaboration with business leaders. Those who aspire to be successful HR professionals must be ready to accept the fact that HR is no longer a soft function and there are a lot of newer challenges which a future HR manager will be faced with. He also shared the findings of survey conducted by “Business Manager�-HR Magazine about why employees dislike HR to provide an insight of what people think about this profession.
August gathering of NCR HR Professionals. Business Manager
May 2012
63
A CURTAIN RAISER
NHRDN Silver Jubilee Conference at Kolkata It's time to celebrate the long 25 years journey of the NHRDN which has always been the torch bearer of Human Resource Development in the nation. The celebrations undoubtedly coincide on an interesting crossroad. For the right reasons, India Inc. today is poised to take the centre stage. One of the critical enablers to the growth of our nation is our people. Indian corporate houses need to leverage on the human resource and nurture managers with global mindset. The NHRDN has been focusing on projects of human resource development through its 30 Chapters and topical initiatives from time to time. Keeping the above imperatives in mind, NHRDN is presenting its Silver Jubilee Conference on the theme 'building india inc. - the people agenda'. Silver Jubilee Conference at Kolkata The Kolkata Chapter in recent times have been doing significant work on the cause of industryacademia collaboration (it recently hosted the maiden Student Conference),social media tools and knowledge sharing through its very popular e-journal, "Kolkata Kindle" The Chapter is therefore honored to host the Silver Jubilee Conference on the 25th and 26th of May, 2012 at Hotel Hyatt Regency, Kolkata. The following is the tentative plan :
OPENING SESSION Mr SY Siddiqui, Management Executive Officer Administration (HR, Finance & IT), Maruti & National President, NHRDN (Confirmed), Dr TV
Rao, Chairman TVRLS & Founder President, NHRDN (Confirmed), Mr Muthuraman, Vice Chairman Tata Steel (Confirmation Awaited), Mr R Mohandas, Director HR, Coal India & National President, NIPM (Confirmed), Mr Peter Wilson, President, Australia Human Resource Institute (Confirmed), Mr Sourav Daspatnaik, Regional President - East, NHRDN (Confirmed). Plenary Session I (Leveraging India's Human Capital in current global economic scenario to build sustainable and inclusive businesses) : Dr Kaushik Basu, Chief Economic Advisor to Govt of India (Confirmation Awaited), Mr Dilip Chenoy, CEO & MD, NSDC (Confirmed). Panel Discussion I (Journey & evolution of Human Resource in the growth of Indian economy) : Dr Arvind Agrawal, President HR & Corp. Dev., RPG Enterprises (Confirmed), Mr Rajeev Dubey, President HR & After Markets, Mahindra & Mahindra (Confirmed), Mr P Dwarkanath, Director HR, MAX Group (Confirmed), Mr Aquil Busrai, Founder, Aquil Busrai Consulting (Confirmed), Mr NS Rajan, Partner & Global Leader - People & Organisation, Ernst & Young (Confirmed). Special Session I (The Business leader's perspective : Frameworks for enabling India growth story) : Mr Hemant Kanoria, Chairman, SREI Group (Confirmed).
SECOND DAY Plenary Session II (Developing talent in an Indian MNC- Challenges & Opportunities) :
Dr Santrupt Mishra,CEO - Carbon Black Business & Director HR, Aditya Birla Corporation (Confirmed), Mr Ravi Venkatesh, Director at Anjika Consulting Inc (Confirmation Awaited). Panel Discussion II (Building India Inc. Engaging with young India) : Mr Abhijit Bhaduri, Chief Learning Officer, WIPRO Ltd. (Confirmation Awaited), Ms Apurva Purohit, CEO, Radio City (Confirmation Awaited), Mr Vishal Talreja, CoFounder & Exec Director, Dream A Dream (Confirmation Awaited), Ms Sonali Roychowdhury,Head Human Resources - Proctor & Gamble (Confirmed), Swami Sarvapriyananda, Ramkrishna Mission (Confirmed). Plenary Session III (Building a globally competitive India) : Prof Ranjan Das, IIM Calcutta (Confirmed), Mr Shriniwas Krishnaswamy,MD South Asia,URS Scott Wilson (Confirmed), Mr Sanjeev Sinha, CEO, Siemens International, Germany (Confirmation Awaited). Panel Discussion III (Developing the global Indian manager - Learnings from personal experience) : Ms Anita Arjundas, CEO,Real Estate Business & MD Mahindra Lifespace Developers (Confirmation Awaited), Mr Subhash Dhar, Ex Sr VP & Head Innovations, Infosys & Founder CEO, Enterprise Nube (Confirmed), Mr Sanjeev K. Chaudhry, CEO SRL Super Religare Laboratories (Confirmed), Mr. J Desai, Accenture (Confirmed). Rajib Kumar, Jt. Secretary, National HRD Network, Kolkata Chapter
HR News
Auto biggies in NCR gearup to settle wage agreements
64
Business Manager
May 2012
Auto companies of Gurgaon-Manesar belt are set for talks to settle wage agreements for a three-year period. Maruti Suzuki would be the first, with agreements likely to be signed with workers at facilities in both Gurgaon and Manesar over the next two to three months. Two-wheeler majors Hero MotoCorp and Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) would follow in the course of the year. The Gurgaon-based Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (Muku) has already given its charter of demands to the management. Though the new Maruti Suzuki Workers' Union (MSWU) at Manesar is yet to communicate its stand, workers across both units are looking at a double-digit pay rise. Sources indicate the rise being demanded would be 15-20 per cent. "We are still preparing our charter, but increase in pay is our main demand," said Ram Mehar Singh, President of MSWU. "There is also the issue of contract labour. Most of them are paid low wages and the company should increase their salaries and provide them additional facilities, such as bus service and medical benefits." The Manesar plant employs around 1,400 contract workers and 1,20 permanent ones. Singh said there was no pay parity between the categories, with a permanent worker earning Rs.17,000 a month and a contract worker getting Rs.8,000-9,000.
Muku has secured a six per cent raise for its 3,000-plus members in 2009. Wages, however vary between the Gurgaon and Manesar units, according to the experience of the employees. For instance, the average age of a worker at the Manesar plant is 26 years and his average salary is Rs.25,000 a month. At Gurgaon, the average age of a worker is 40 years and his average monthly salary, Rs.39,500. Wage pacts are also up for renewal at HMSI. Wage agreement signed in 2009 is set to lapse in August. Negotiations over revisions will start in June" The Union represents 1,800 permanent workers, who get between Rs.25,000-30,000 a month. Hero MotoCorp, the world's single largest two-wheeler maker, has already raised wages at its Dharuhera unit last year. For white-collar employees, the pay was raised as much as 30 per cent, while workers at the Dharuhera plant got a monthly increase of Rs.6,500 each. It is preparing a similar pay structure for workers at its Gurgaon and Haridwar plants. The wage agreement at Gurgaon is up for renewal this year. Auto Cos in the region are committed to maintain cordial relations with all workers and employees, based on mutual respect. Regular surveys as best in class for all categories of workmen & staff are also undertaken.